{"id":236759,"date":"2019-11-05T22:42:53","date_gmt":"2019-11-06T03:42:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=236759"},"modified":"2019-11-05T22:43:32","modified_gmt":"2019-11-06T03:43:32","slug":"time-flies-80th-anniversary-of-the-national-research-council-of-canada-time-signal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/11\/05\/time-flies-80th-anniversary-of-the-national-research-council-of-canada-time-signal\/","title":{"rendered":"Time flies! 80th anniversary of the National Research Council of Canada time signal"},"content":{"rendered":"
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FILE: Sign at the NRC headquarters in Ottawa, Canada; I thought it was kind of an amusing inscription, August 2004 (Photo By Peregrine981 (talk) 13:16, 6 May 2014 (UTC) – Peregrine981 (talk) 13:16, 6 May 2014 (UTC), CC BY-SA 3.0<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Time signal first heard on the CBC Radio One Network in 1939<\/h2>\n

November 5, 2019\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013 Ottawa, Ontario \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>National Research Council of Canada<\/p>\n

Today marks the 80th year that Canadians can tune in to the longest-running but shortest-duration broadcast program on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) Radio One network. It was on November 5, 1939, that the first time signal from the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) was heard on air across the CBC network at exactly 13:00.<\/p>\n

A brief history of timekeeping in Canada over the past 96 years<\/strong><\/h3>\n

1923:<\/strong>\u00a0Astronomers at the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory created a shortwave time signal radio station.<\/p>\n

1929:<\/strong>\u00a0The regular daytime transmission began in January. In order to cover Canada in its entirety, the station automatically sent its call sign in Morse code once per hour and pulses were coded to identify the time of day.<\/p>\n

1938:<\/strong>\u00a0The CHU call letters were first used for Canadian time transmission on the frequencies 3330\u00a0kHz, 7335 (7850 since 2009)\u00a0kHz and 14670\u00a0kHz.<\/p>\n

1939:<\/strong>\u00a0The first time the NRC signal was heard on air across the CBC Radio One network.<\/p>\n

1970:<\/strong>\u00a0CHU was transferred from astronomers to physicists at the NRC, putting the Government of Canada\u2019s largest science and research organization in charge of maintaining Canada\u2019s official time.<\/p>\n

2019:<\/strong>\u00a0Almost 50 years later, the NRC continues to be Canada\u2019s official timekeeper.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Quick facts<\/h2>\n