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People wear protective glasses during a partial solar eclipse, at the Royal Observatory Greenwich in London, Britain, 29 March 2025 (issued 01 April 2025). The meridian line in Greenwich represents the Prime Meridian of the world, Longitude Zero (0° 0' 0"). Every place on the Earth is measured in terms of its angle east or west from this line. Since 1884, the Prime Meridian has also served as the reference point for Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) which was distributed both nationally, via the Time Ball installed in 1833, and the national standardization for Railway Time in 1852. The year 2025 marks 350 years since the foundation of the Royal Observatory, the first state-funded, purpose-built scientific institution in Britain. It was founded in 1675 by British King Charles II to make astronomical observations that could help navigators at sea determine their longitude (east-west position). (Photo by Neil Hall/EPA)
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