| greenwich meridian | |
noun | |
| the meridian passing through Greenwich; was internationally adopted as the earth's zero of longitude in 1884 |
Greenwich meridian
imaginary line used to indicate 0 longitude that passes through Greenwich, a borough of London, and terminates at the North and South poles. An international conference held in Washington, D.C., in 1884 designated "the meridian passing through the centre of the transit instrument at the Observatory of Greenwich as the initial meridian for longitude." The observatory (renamed the Royal Greenwich Observatory) was moved to Hailsham, East Sussex, during the 1950s, but the original site continues to serve as the location for 0 longitude.
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