November 18 · This Day in America
Until this Sunday, the country runs on the sun. Every town keeps its own noon, set by when the light is highest overhead, and a traveler crossing the land resets a watch dozens of times. For the railroads, hauling people at speed between thousands of mismatched clocks, this is a daily invitation to disaster. So the railroads simply decide. On November 18, 1883, on a plan organized by railway editor William F. Allen, station clocks across the United States are reset at the stroke of standard noon — Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific. In many cities the clock strikes twelve, then strikes it again on the new time. People call it the Day of Two Noons. The federal government would not make it law until 1918. The railroads did it first, because the future ran on a schedule, and the country quietly agreed to keep it.
Source: guides.loc.gov
Also on this day · 1928
At the Colony Theater in New York, a short cartoon called "Steamboat Willie" plays for the first time. A mouse pilots a riverboat, whistling along with a synchronized soundtrack — sound and animation locked together as audiences had never quite seen. It is the public debut of Mickey Mouse, and the launch of an American studio that would help define how the world imagines childhood. It began with a whistle.
Source: www.loc.gov