ChatterBank0 min ago
Why was British Summer Time introduced in 1916 ?
can someone please explain the logic behind British Summer Time
I know it was introduced in 1916, but I have heard conflicting reasons as to why
I know it was introduced in 1916, but I have heard conflicting reasons as to why
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.Britain first adopted William Willett's Daylight Saving Time scheme in 1916, a few weeks after Germany. For years, the British Government had refused to introduce Daylight Saving Time, but by then, Britain and Germany were fighting each other in the First World War (1914-18), in order to promote greater efficiency in the use of the daylight hours. The Summer Time Act of 1916 was quickly passed by Parliament and the first day of British Summer Time, 21 May 1916, was widely reported in the press.
Year-long Daylight Saving Time? Why on earth does this hoary old subject keep being brought up in parliament as if it were some great new idea? It has been tried more than once, and from the experience of the British people it has been rejected each time. The last Commons vote to discontinue it was passed by something like 330 votes to 66. This was the considered response of MPs and the British public to the whole idea. I can only suppose that those who advocate the change are too young to have been affected by it in the past, and haven't even bothered to read the many valid criticisms of the time. They need to be slapped down!
At the time of the experiment I was in the RAF, so it wasn't much of an inconvenience, as it was a 90 second walk from my bed to my office. The working day for admin staff started at 8 a.m. and it was a weird feeling that everyone was going about their business in total darkness. Daylight did not appear till 9 a.m., and that was in the South of England.