21 May 1916: The first day of British Summer Time

For the first British Summer Time on this day in 1916, millions of Britons put their clocks forward an hour

British builder William Willett first laid out a serious proposition for the British Summer Time
(Image credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Wishing to prolong a round of golf is an odd reason for putting the entire country to the bother of remembering to put their clocks forward an hour every spring. But that, so it is said, was behind William Willett's campaign to introduce British Summer Time (BST). The other, far more likely reason, was to make the most of the daylight hours and increase British productivity.

It was Benjamin Franklin who first toyed with the idea of “daylight saving time”. In a letter to the Journal of Paris in 1784, he mused over how much he would save on candles by putting his clock forward in the warmer months and getting out of bed earlier.

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Chris Carter
Wealth Editor, MoneyWeek

Chris Carter spent three glorious years reading English literature on the beautiful Welsh coast at Aberystwyth University. Graduating in 2005, he left for the University of York to specialise in Renaissance literature for his MA, before returning to his native Twickenham, in southwest London. He joined a Richmond-based recruitment company, where he worked with several clients, including the Queen’s bank, Coutts, as well as the super luxury, Dorchester-owned Coworth Park country house hotel, near Ascot in Berkshire.

Then, in 2011, Chris joined MoneyWeek. Initially working as part of the website production team, Chris soon rose to the lofty heights of wealth editor, overseeing MoneyWeek’s Spending It lifestyle section. Chris travels the globe in pursuit of his work, soaking up the local culture and sampling the very finest in cuisine, hotels and resorts for the magazine’s discerning readership. He also enjoys writing his fortnightly page on collectables, delving into the fascinating world of auctions and art, classic cars, coins, watches, wine and whisky investing.

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