UNITED KINGDOM

UNITED KINGDOM.

Centenary of the Greenwich Meridian, 1884-1984.
The Greenwich meridian on a Navigational Chart of English Channel.
Second stamp in the set of 4, issued on 26.06.1984.
Face value: 20.5 British pence.
Design: Sedley Place.
Printed by the House of Questa.
Printing; Offset lithography.
Print: 7,065,100 copies.

Catalogues
- AFA No. 1098.
- Michel No. 994.
- Scott No. 1059.
- StampWorld No. 975.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 1255.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 1132.

The prime meridian (known as Greenwich Meridian) is a geographic reference line that passes through the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London. It was established by George Airy in 1851, and by 1884, more than two-thirds of all ships used it as a reference meridian on their charts and maps. In October of that year, 41 delegates from 25 nations gathered in Washington for the International Meridian Conference, which selected the meridian passing through Greenwich as the official prime meridian. However, France abstained from voting, and French maps continued to use the Paris meridian until they officially adopted the Greenwich meridian on March 10, 1911.