Modern aircraft can take you from one part of the continent to another in just a few hours
In 1850, it took three weeks to make a journey from London to New York. Now the same distance can be covered in three hours. This impressive difference has changed our perception of the world. Countries now seem closer to each other than before – the world is shrinking!
Faster means of transportation and recently invented technologies have led to a significant increase in international trade and connections. An airplane can deliver cargo to the opposite hemisphere in just one day. Fresh products – such as meat, fruit, and vegetables – that would inevitably have spoiled before reaching their destination are now transported over vast distances in refrigerated containers on ships.
Modern telecommunications – telephone, fax, and email – allow businessmen to conduct direct deals with partners around the world. Television increases our knowledge of other places and people. We can watch educational programs about distant countries, talk on the phone with people who are thousands of kilometers away, and even find friends through computer networks such as the Internet.
In the mid-19th century, the fastest transport between New York and London was a clipper ship. The duration of the journey depended, of course, on the weather, but usually the trip took about three weeks.
In 1910, the steamship "Mauretania" crossed the Atlantic Ocean in five days.
In 1939, the high-speed transatlantic flying boat "Boeing 314" began the first air transport across the Atlantic, thereby cutting the travel time to 24 hours.
Today, the same route on the supersonic jet "Concorde" takes only three and a half hours!
Our planet is divided into 24 time zones, and time is measured in hours "after" or "before" Greenwich Mean Time in England. Within a time zone, time is the same, and it will be behind or ahead of neighboring zones by one hour. The International Date Line determines the end of one day and the beginning of the next. This helps avoid confusion with airplane departure and arrival schedules.
Today, a small number of people travel by sea, but container ships and tankers carry all kinds of goods. The Dutch city of Rotterdam handles more cargo than any other port.
The most popular means for international travel is the airplane. London Heathrow Airport handles more international traffic than any other. Every day, over 2,000 airplanes land and take off there!