Fleming, Sandford

Person

Fleming, Sandford

1827-1915

In 1845, a t the age of 18, armed with a little formal training in surveying and engineering, Fleming emigrated to Canada from Kirkcaldy, Scotland. He completed his engineering education and in 1858, as chief engineer of the Northern Railway, he first proposed a railway to the Pacific. Many years later, he played a leading part in its construction. Nationalist and imperialist of talent, vision and energy, he was responsible for a wide variety of projects central to Canada’s scientific, academic and cultural life. Fleming designed the "Three-Penny Beaver," Canada’s first adhesive postage stamp, in 1851. He also proposed the present system of standard time, by which the world is divided into 24 equal time zones. It was adopted in 1884. He was knighted in 1897 on the occasion of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. Sir Sandford Fleming, C.M.G., served as the second Chancellor of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario (1880-1915). Sir Sandford Fleming College, with campuses in many Ontario locations, was named in his honour.
He died at Halifax in 1915.

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