Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Fleming, Sir Sandford
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1827 - 1915
History
Sir Sandford Fleming was a Scottish-Canadian engineer and inventor, as well as the chief government surveyor of Nova Scotia charged with the construction of a rail line from Truro to Pictou. He promoted worldwide standard time zones, a prime meridian, and use of the 24-hour clock, all of which influenced the establishment of Coordinated Universal Time. He also designed Canada's first postage stamp, engineered much of the Intercolonial Railway and the Canadian Pacific Railway, and was a founding member of both the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Institute.