Cleveland Abbe
In order to compile his information, Abbe required a time-keeping system that was consistent among the stations. To accomplish this he divided the United States into four standard time zones. He published, in 1879, a paper titled "Report on Standard Time". In 1883, he convinced North American railroad companies to adopt his time-zone system. In 1884, Britain, which had already adopted its own standard time system for England, Scotland, and Wales, helped gather international consent for global time. In time, the American government, influenced in part by his 1879 paper, adopted the time-zone system.
Daylight saving time in the Americas
Brazil adopted DST (called "horário de verão"—"summer time"—in Portuguese) for the first time in 1931, and it was in effect across the entire country. The duration and regional applicability of DST has varied over the years (see for details). As of 2013, DST is used only in the southern region (the states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Paraná), the southeast region (the states of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Espirito Santo, Minas Gerais), and the central-west region (the state of Goiás and the Distrito Federal, and the states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul).