Talk:Ladd Observatory

national register infobox
The article is too short for a second infobox, and half of the information is already in the observatory box. I'll place the info here for possible future use.--mikeu 12:06, 10 April 2007 (UTC)


 * I went ahead and put it in. I shrank the observatory infobox as much as possible to keep page length down. --Dudemanfellabra (talk) 05:03, 15 February 2009 (UTC)


 * Now is there anyway to shrink the NRHP box? Really, that map is way to big and contains very little information.  The map overwhelms the image of the observatory.  The facility has been an astronomical observatory for over a century and has been on the regsiter for less than a decade.  The observatory infobox is arguably more important to highlight given that is the main function of the building.  --mikeu talk 05:38, 13 September 2009 (UTC)
 * I added some more info to the observatory infobox, and also moved the image from the NRHP box to there. Now the observatory is clearly the primary focus (ha!) but the NRHP still looks big. I experimented with the map_width parameter to shrink the map, but the RI map is so tall, it doesn't help much. DMacks (talk) 06:35, 13 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Thanks, that is much improved. These info boxes are a bit large for a stub article.  I guess the thing to do is expand the page ;) I had the same trouble trying to rescale the NRHP box myself.  --mikeu talk 22:36, 13 September 2009 (UTC)

Time signal
I remember reading in the Projo a decade or two ago that Ladd used to send a time signal to the Providence Fire Department - every day at noon, or something like that. When the director at the time asked if they still needed it, the response was "what time signal?" It turned out that the wire wasn't even connected anymore.

Anyone remember this story well enough to track it down? Google News failed me. :-( --SarekOfVulcan (talk) 19:59, 22 July 2009 (UTC)
 * I can find several sources that it used to send out time signals (and to groups other than PFD), but not the disconnection story:( DMacks (talk) 20:14, 22 July 2009 (UTC)
 * The cited Encyclopedia Brunoniana ref states "From 1893 to 1973 Ladd Observatory provided time signals, [...] discontinuing the practice only when it was observed that no one was receiving them." ProJo's online archive search only seems to go back to 1983:( DMacks (talk) 20:23, 22 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Thanks! I just added a paragraph about this. --SarekOfVulcan (talk) 21:21, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

Yes, the observatory sent time signals via telegraph through the R.I. Protective Electric Rhode Island Electric Protective company. I'll locate some references for this. --mikeu talk 05:40, 13 September 2009 (UTC)


 * The reference to Rhode Island Electric Protective (RIEP) is: William Greer, A History of Alarm Security, National Burglar & Fire Alarm Association, 2nd edition, 1991, pp 62-63

"The alarm company introduced a most unusual service - what may be called the protection against tardiness. They kept time for the City of Providence, learning the correct time from the Ladd Observatory at Brown University and adjusting the clocks around town by transmitting electric signals every minute on the minute." "In this time protection system, RIEP would connect each monitored clock to a companion clock at its central station. To a circuit serving several clocks, it would connect a master clock, which in turn was connected to a circuit running to the Observatory.  When the minute struck at the Observatory, an electric impulse would move the master clock ahead one minute.  Simultaneously, the master would transmit the impulses to all the slave clocks on its circuit, moving each ahead one minute." "Toward the end of the 20th century, numerous clocks in city building, hospitals, church steeples and other Providence locales, were still regulated by RIEP. RIEP was one fo the few alarm companies to monitor clocks, although Western Union and other telegraph companies did and, in some cases, still do.  Some alarm companies offered other time-related services: ringing of church bells on the hour, and ringing bells and whistles to signal lunch time, the end of the work day and bed time."


 * --mikeu talk 19:39, 14 September 2009 (UTC)

Wikipedian in Residence
During 2016 the Observatory will be celebrating its 125th anniversary. We're looking for Wikipedians to improve this article and others that are related to the history of Ladd Observatory as part of the GLAM/US initiative. See Wikipedian_in_Residence/Ladd_Observatory for more information about the project or contact me on my talk page if you are interested in participating either in residence or online. --mikeu talk 16:35, 26 December 2015 (UTC)