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:

12 Dec 2023Reed bunting
25 Jul 2025Colourful houses of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
Blending in nicely
9 Feb 2026Amur leopard cat, Russia
19 Mar 2025A black heron canopy hunting in Botswana
26 Jun 2025Horse Head Rock, New South Wales, Australia
3 Feb 2025Ribblehead Viaduct, North Yorkshire, England
18 Oct 2023Canary Wharf tube station, London
11 Mar 2024Koala
9 May 2025International Chameleon Day
23 Jan 2024Maldives
4 Jun 2025Cala Luna beach, Sardinia, Italy
Happy Yorkshire Day!
5 Oct 2025World Teachers Day
18 Jul 2024Coral Reef Awareness Week
15 Sep 2025Point Reyes National Seashore, California, United States
12 Jul 2024Mount Rainier National Park, Washington, USA
A labyrinth of luxury
Wise guys
13 Apr 2024Grand National
16 Feb 2024Female pyrrhuloxia in Texas, USA
15 Apr 2026World Art Day
28 Mar 2026African buffalo, Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania
5 Nov 2025Guy Fawkes Night
28 Sep 2024Taj Mahal, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India
25 Dec 2023Christmas Day
23 Oct 2025International Day of the Snow Leopard
Crowning jewel of London
8 Nov 2025Bandon Beach in Bandon, Oregon, United States
20 Jan 2025Dunes at White Sands National Park, New Mexico, United States