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zones—Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific. At noon on Sunday, November 18, 1883—a day that became known as “the day with two noons”—the railroads set their clocks to this system.
    On October 13, 1884, leaders from 25 nations gathered at the International Meridian Conference in Washington, D.C., divided the world into 24 time zones, with Greenwich, England, chosen to be the “prime meridian”. The day would begin there and time would change by one hour for each 15 degrees traveled from that point.
    Slowly but surely the rest of the world adapted to the new time zones. Some applauded it, others rejected it—but because the railroads were
the
primary means of transportation and shipping at the time, people had little choice.
    Still, it wasn’t until 1918 that Congress got around to making the Standard Time Act a matter of law—a law made, coincidentally, in conjunction with passing the first Daylight Saving Time Act.

    “We must not allow the clock and the calendar to blind us to the fact that each moment of life is a miracle and mystery.”
    —
H.G. Wells
    Tall tale: 25% of American men are now six feet or taller, compared to only 4% in 1900.

FIRST LADY FIRSTS
    Mrs. Uncle John insists that women don’t read in the bathroom we might believe her… if we didn’t get so many letters from women who do. In their honor, here’s a bit of forgotten political history.
    F irst Lady: Lucy Ware Webb Hayes, wife of Rutherford B. Hayes
    Notable First: The first First Lady to be called a First Lady
    Background: From Martha Washington through Julie Grant, presidential wives did not have a title. In 1876, newspaper writer Mary Clemmer Ames first referred to Mrs. Hayes, wife of the 19th president, as “the First Lady” in her column, “Woman’s Letter from Washington.”
    First Lady: Frances Folsom Cleveland, wife of Grover Cleveland
    Notable First: The first First Lady to be married in the White House
    Background: Frances Folsom was only 21 when she married 49-year-old President Cleveland on June 2, 1886. It was the first nuptial ceremony held in the White House for a presidential couple. Mrs. Cleveland was the nation’s youngest First Lady. She was also the first First Lady to give birth to a child in the White House, when her daughter Esther was born in 1893.
    First Lady: Letitia Christian Tyler, first wife of John Tyler
    Notable First: The first First Lady to die in the White House
    Background: John Tyler became president when President William Henry Harrison died 30 days after being sworn in. Letitia Tyler had suffered a paralytic stroke several years earlier, so her duties as First Lady were actually assigned to her daughter-in-law, Priscilla Cooper Tyler. After a lengthy illness, probably tuberculosis, Letitia died in September 1842.
    First Lady: Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, wife of John F. Kennedy
    Notable First: The first (and only) First Lady to receive an Emmy Award
    Background: To prod Congress into passing a bill giving permanent museum status to the White House, she conducted a tour of the mansion for television, which earned her a Special Emmy.
    Marlene Dietrich’s beauty secret: to emphasize her
    First Lady: Helen Herron Taft, wife of William H. Taft
    Notable First: The first First Lady to decree that no bald-headed waiter or butler could serve in the White House
    Background: Feeling the previous occupants of the White House were too informal and lacked dignity, Helen Taft, wife of the 27th president, thought this rule would create a favorable impression for guests. (Not to be confused with Lou Henry Hoover, wife of the 31st president, who insisted that all butlers, waiters, and footmen must be exactly five feet, eight inches tall.)
    First Lady: Eliza McCardle Johnson, wife of Andrew Johnson
    Notable First: The first First Lady to teach her husband to read and write (before he was president)
    Background: President Andrew Johnson was born into poverty. Apprenticed to a tailor at a young age, he never