1 of 1 The end of summer time from 2021 is approved by the European Parliament Photo: Reproduction/TV Globo The end of summer time from 2021 is approved by the European Parliament Photo: Reproduction/TV Globo
Once upon a time there was a middleclass building contractor who lived in the southeast London suburb of Chislehurst.
His name was William Willett (18561915). And if it weren’t for him, the British and a quarter of the world, including the United States might never have adopted daylight saving time.
Willett loved nature. One summer morning in 1905, he was riding a horse when he noticed that many curtains were left closed, preventing sunlight from entering the houses.
Then an idea came to him: Why not set the clocks forward before the start of summer?
Willett was not the first to invent this measure. Even ancient civilizations shortened or extended the length of the day depending on the season. For example, in ancient Rome, an hour could last 44 minutes in winter and 75 minutes in summer.
In 1895, New Zealand entomologist George Hunter proposed a twohour change, but his idea was ridiculed. And six years later, in 1901, the British King Edward 7th (18411910) set the clocks back by 30 minutes in Sandringham in the United Kingdom (where one of the royal residences is located) so that he could spend more time hunting could.
But it was up to Willett to ensure that daylight saving time was finally implemented.
Minister defends wider debate over summer time
In 1907 he published an independent pamphlet entitled Waste of Daylight, in which he argued that clocks in the United Kingdom should be set forward by 20 minutes four times in April and set back in the same manner. will return to normal hours in September.
Willett argued that the measure would not only expand recreational opportunities but also reduce lighting costs.
His supporters included important politicians including two future British prime ministers: David Lloyd George (18631945) and a young man named Winston Churchill (18741965), then president of the Chamber of Commerce.
The creator of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle (18591930), also expressed support during discussions of the DST law, although he disapproved of Willett’s cumbersome partial adjustments.
“A single onehour change would be a round number and would cause less confusion,” Conan Doyle told the committee considering the proposal.
Among his opponents was the then Prime Minister Herbert Asquith (18521928). The bill was narrowly defeated in 1909 and subsequent proposals suffered the same fate.
Obviously, playing with time was too radical a change for the time, even with a liberal government of a reformist character. But Willett was tireless and continued to passionately defend daylight saving time in the United Kingdom, continental Europe and America until he died of influenza in 1915.
Just a year after Willett’s death, a revised version of his proposal was finally adopted, spurred by the most extenuating circumstance of all: war.
Two years after the start of the First World War, the United Kingdom suffered from a severe shortage of coal, the main source of energy for the country’s industry and households.
“In addition to the increased demand to supply the navy, railways and defense industries, the United Kingdom had to supply coal to the Allies, whose mines were taken over by Germany, not to mention the thousands of miners who volunteered for the war. says history professor David Stevenson from the London School of Economics.
Willett’s ideas promised relief, with longer nights and less need for coal lighting.
Germany passed the Daylight Saving Time Act on April 30, 1916 and the United Kingdom passed the same measure shortly afterwards on May 17. According to Stevenson, this type of imitation was widespread.
“The UK had taken [ideias] “I adopted it from Germany a long time ago,” explains the professor. “Many British politicians and intellectuals were fascinated by the country as an example of superior national performance.”
Under the new law, clocks would be set forward one hour from Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) during British Summer Time.
Several other European countries quickly followed suit, including the United States (which famously coined the phrase “advance in the spring, retreat in the fall”), Uruguay, New Zealand, Chile and Cuba.
Changes to daylight saving time occurred occasionally in the United Kingdom throughout the 20th century.
During World War II, the country set its clocks two hours ahead of GMT time. To further reduce industry costs, it was called “Double Daylight Saving Time.”
Between 1968 and 1971, the country experimented with British Standard Time, setting its clocks forward by one hour throughout the year. But the test involved requiring children to wear fluorescent bracelets on dark winter mornings, and the measure ultimately proved extremely unpopular.
Since then, several proposals in Parliament have called summer time into question and not just in the UK. Similar measures are constantly being created, changed, questioned or discarded in different parts of the world.
Daylight saving time was first introduced in Brazil in 1931, but the practice was irregular. From 1985, clocks were set forward by one hour every year until daylight saving time was abolished in the country in 2019.
Why is daylight saving time such a controversial topic? Basically, the advantages never convincingly outweighed the disadvantages. For every undeniable argument for daylight saving time, there is always a clear countervailing factor.
In short, summer time mainly benefits trade, sports and tourism, but harms agriculture and postmen who work in the morning.
Nobody knows this debate better than David Prerau, author of the book Seize the Daylight.
“In general, daylight saving time is thought to reduce energy consumption, traffic accidents and outdoor crime, as well as lead to a better quality of life,” he says.
“But the disadvantages include dark mornings a problem particularly for school children and farmers and the effects of jet lag on sleep patterns.”
A recent Finnish medical study found Linking summer time to the occurrence of strokeswhich blames the disruption of the body’s circadian rhythms.
Changing the clock is often a political instrument. During celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the Korean Peninsula’s independence in August 2015, North Korea set its clocks back 30 minutes and returned to the time zone it used before the Japanese occupation.
The aim is to “eliminate the legacy of the Japanese colonial era,” explained the state news agency. The measure was lifted in 2018 to eliminate the time difference with South Korea.
About a quarter of the world’s population of 7.4 billion people observe daylight saving time. Prerau has no doubts about who deserves the credit for this measure.
“The passage of legislation establishing daylight saving time came directly from the efforts of William Willett,” he says.
Looking at Willett’s simple grave outside the peaceful St Nicholas Church in Chislehurst, we find it hard to believe that he maintained his global influence so long after his death.
In the suburbs, Willett’s legacy is recorded on a plaque at his former home, in the pub called The Daylight Inn, in the streets named after him, and in letters, documents and photographs in the Chislehurst Society community hall.
But doesn’t he deserve greater recognition?
“Absolutely,” responds Joanna Friel from the Chislehurst Society. “Willett defended [o horário de verão] so passionate and just refused to give up. He was a remarkable and ultimately very important personality.”
Chris Martin, lead singer of the British rock band Coldplay, is one of William Willett’s greatgreatgrandchildren. The opening verse of his song Clocks contains a possible reference to daylight saving time: “The lights go out and I can’t be saved.”
In 2016 the band performed at the Glastonbury Festival in the United Kingdom. They took the stage at around 10.15pm, around the same time the sun set, thanks to British Summer Time and William Willett, the man who changed the time.