Home > William Willett

In 1907 he proposed in a pamphlet The Waste of Daylight [1], that the clocks should be advanced by 80 minutes in the summer. The evenings would then remain light for longer, increasing daylight recreation time and also saving 2.5 million pounds in lighting costs. He suggested that the clocks should be advanced by 20 minutes at a time at 2 am on successive Sundays in April and be retarded by the same amount on Sundays in September.

This was not the first time that the idea of adapting to daylight hours had been mooted - Benjamin Franklin had done so in 1784 in a light-hearted letter published in the Journal of Paris [2]. Franklin's suggestion was that people should get up earlier in summer.

Through vigorous campaigning by 1908 Willet had managed to gain the support of an MP Robert Pearce who made several unsuccessful attempts to get it passed into law. The idea was examined again by a parliamentary select committee in 1909 but again nothing was done. The outbreak of the First World War made the issue more important primarily because of the need to save coal. GermanyThe Federal Republic of Germany ( German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland is one of the world's leading industrialized countries, located in the middle of the European Union. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark and the Baltic Sea, to the east had already introduced its own scheme when the bill was passed on May 17May 17 is the 137th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (138th in leap years). There are 228 days remaining. Events 1590 Anne of Denmark is crowned Queen of Scotland. 1642 Paul Chomedey, sieur de Maisonneuve (1612-1676) founds the Ville Marie de Mon, 19161916 is a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar) Events January 1 -The first successful blood transfusion using blood that had been stored and cooled. Impressionist Monet paints Water Lilies'. January 8 Allied forces withdraw from and the clocks were advanced by an hour on the following Sunday, May 21May 21 is the 141st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (142nd in leap years). There are 224 days remaining. Events 996 Sixteen year old Otto III is crowned Holy Roman Emperor. 1674 John Sobieski is elected by the nobility to be the King of Poland..