British Summer Time ends 27 Oct 2024

British Summer Time ends

Time is of the essence today: the last Sunday of October marks the end of British Summer Time. At 2 AM this morning, the clocks fell back one hour, meaning there was an extra hour of sleep. While the idea of summer time was mentioned in 1784 by American inventor Benjamin Franklin, the first serious proposal for changing the clocks in the United Kingdom came from British builder William Willett in 1907. He valued having more daylight and felt so strongly about this that he published a pamphlet called "The Waste of Daylight. Over time, many countries adopted the practice to give people more daylight in the evenings during the summer months.

© Puthipong Worasaran/Moment/Getty Images

palette

Today in History

A kiss and a sigh
27 Oct 2023Sligachan Old Bridge, Isle of Skye, Scotland

More Desktop Wallpapers:

8 Oct 2024World Octopus Day
2 Apr 2024Beech trees and anemone wildflowers, Jutland, Denmark
8 Nov 2023Llyn Padarn, Snowdonia, Wales
2 Dec 2024Moose, Denali National Park, Alaska, United States
Paranormal activity?
30 Aug 2025International Whale Shark Day
The bears of summer
9 Sep 2025Eurasian red squirrel, Switzerland
Piecing together a better tomorrow
10 Apr 2024Apple trees in spring, Germany
29 Jan 2024Gollinger Waterfalls, Salzburg, Austria
18 Mar 2024Elephant Rock, Al-Ula, Saudi Arabia
Bright blue lakes and rugged mountains
11 Mar 2024Koala
4 Nov 2024Grasmere, Lake District, Cumbria, England
31 Dec 2024Hogmanay
Birthplace of the Renaissance
4 Apr 2024Red lechwe, Okavango Delta, Botswana
14 Jan 2026The staircase of the Fortress of Palamidi, Nafplio, Greece
Life on the lake
29 Jan 2025Porto, Portugal
Celebrating the Scottish bard
A show of prehistoric hands
26 Dec 2024Boxing Day
On a dark and stormy night...
Who uses this grassy bridge?
18 Dec 2024English National Ballet performing The Nutcracker
10 Mar 2024Mothering Sunday
30 May 2024Everglades National Park, Florida, USA
A breathtaking cave when it’s cold