Maps Explained
Prime Meridian: The 1884 Vote Named a Telescope, Not a Mark
The 1884 International Meridian Conference proposed as longitude zero the meridian through the center of the transit instrument at Greenwich Observatory: a telescope, not a line on the ground.
Published November 1, 2026
Image credit
"The Royal Observatory, Greenwich Hill, top, and the view of Greenwich and London seen from the hill, below" by Wellcome Collection — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Royal_Observatory,_Greenwich_Hill,_top,_and_the_view_of_Wellcome_V0013355.jpg — CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)