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.
Western Conference (NHL)
The Northwest Division was dissolved in 2013. Its American teams joined the Central, while the Canadian teams returned to the Pacific. With this 2013 realignment, the Central Division is based almost entirely in the Central Time Zone (the only exception being the Colorado Avalanche, who are in the Mountain Time Zone), and the Pacific Division is based entirely within the Mountain and Pacific Time Zones.