The
International Meridian Conference was a conference held in October 1884 in
Washington, D.C., in the
United States, to determine a
prime meridian for international use. The conference was held at the request of
U.S. President Chester A. Arthur. The subject to discuss was the choice of "a meridian to be employed as a common zero of longitude and standard of time reckoning throughout the world". It resulted in selection of the
Greenwich Meridian as an international standard for zero degrees
longitude.