Question

assage 1
Dropping the Time Ball
by Pamela D. Greenwood

Every year since 1907 (except twice during World War II), a ball has dropped in Times Square in New York City to mark the beginning of the new year. It is the only time ball in the United States that still operates.
But in the late 1800s most major cities had time balls. They were dropped at noon every day. People looked up from their work and checked their own watches to make sure they were "on time."
Before 1883, there was no standard time in the United States. A sundial or noon mark helped people tell time. Because

Answer 1

assage 1
Dropping the Time Ball
by Pamela D. Greenwood

Every year since 1907 (except twice during World War II), a ball has dropped in Times Square in New York City to mark the beginning of the new year. It is the only time ball in the United States that still operates.
But in the late 1800s most major cities had time balls. They were dropped at noon every day. People looked up from their work and checked their own watches to make sure they were "on time."
Before 1883, there was no standard time in the United States. A sundial or noon mark helped people tell time. Because of the sun's apparent motion, noon on one side of a large city could be at a different time than on the other side of the same city.
The first time ball in the United States was established at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., around 1845. People in the cities started checking the time balls for the correct time, too.
In the United States, the practice of using time balls spread quickly. The balls were three to four feet in diameter. They were usually black, though Boston had a four-hundred-pound copper ball and Chicago's time ball was red. The ball would be set up on a tall mast, usually atop a prominent building.
In the 1900s, when radio made it possible to communicate long distances without the use of telegraph wires, time balls became less important in announcing the correct time. People could just turn on the radio to check the accuracy of their clocks and watches.
Today, the ball that announces the new year in Times Square is the only reminder of those bygone days.
Copyright (c) 1997 by Highlights for Children, Inc., Columbus, Ohio.

Passage 2
Time Balls

Time balls were large painted wooden or metal balls that always dropped at a fixed time for very important reasons. A time ball was specially used to help the sailors. Sailors used time balls to check their marine chronometers. Marine chronometers were time devices used by people at sea. Accurate timekeeping helped mariners to know their longitude at sea.
Time ball stations used to set their clocks based on the positions of the sun and stars. The people in the stations used information from transit observations. Originally they had to be stationed at the observatory itself. If they were not stationed at the observatory, they had to keep a very accurate clock at the station. The clock was set manually to observatory time. It was only after the electric telegraph was invented that time balls could be operated from a distance. Thus, after 1950, time balls could be located far from the source of Mean Time.
In the USA, time balls were dropped at noon. In other countries, the time balls were dropped at 1 pm. They were raised half way about 5 minutes earlier to alert the ships. Then, with 2-3 minutes to go they were raised the whole way. The time was recorded when the ball began descending, not when it reached the bottom. The time ball was not usually dropped at noon because the observatories would be too busy taking readings.
The first time ball was erected at Portsmouth in 1829 by its inventor Robert Wauchope, a Captain in the Royal Navy. Others followed in the major ports of the UK (including Liverpool) and around the maritime world. One was installed in 1833 at the Greenwich Observatory by Astronomer Royal John Pond. When radio time signals began (in Britain from 1924), time balls gradually went out of use. Many time balls were demolished in the 1920s.

Answer 2

http://prntscr.com/6kzv37

Answer 3

@confluxepic

Answer 4

@bohotness what is an assage?

Answer 5

studyisland

Answer 6

what does the word ASSAGE mean?

Answer 7

idk :(