US Presidency
1884

The International Meridian Conference lately convened in Washington upon the invitation of the Government of the United States was composed of representatives from twenty-five nations. The conference concluded its labors on the 1st of November, having with substantial unanimity agreed upon the meridian of Greenwich as the starting point whence longitude is to be computed through 180 degrees eastward and westward, and upon the adoption, for all purposes for which it may be found convenient, of a universal day which shall begin at midnight on the initial meridian and whose hours shall be counted from zero up to twenty-four. The formal report of the transactions of this conference will be hereafter transmitted to the Congress. This Government is in frequent receipt of invitations from foreign states to participate in international exhibitions, often of great interest and importance.