The clock change this coming weekend: interesting facts and anecdotes from history
Twins born at the stroke of midnight, a foiled terrorist attack and the bug affecting European iPhones: three very different events that all have the switch to standard time in common
Standard time is back: next weekend, during the night between Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 October, the clocks will be set back by one hour. The change will take place at 3 am, which will become 2 am. This means we’ll get an extra hour’s sleep on Saturday night. Smartphones, tablets and computers will update their times automatically, whilst analogue watches will need to be adjusted manually. Standard time, which brings with it shorter days, will remain in force until the last weekend of March 2027.
The origins of the time change
The first person to consider the possibility of changing the natural time was Benjamin Franklin, the inventor of the lightning conductor. Rather than moving the clock hands, Franklin proposed forcing people to wake up earlier, so as to save on the cost of candles. The idea, considered mad in 1784, took root about a century later and became a reality during the First World War. The United Kingdom was the first to give the go-ahead to what came to be known as ‘British summer time’, a system whereby the clocks were moved forward by one hour during the summer. Given the economic and energy difficulties caused by the conflict, many countries followed the British example. Italia changed the time for the first time on 4 June 1916, moving the clocks from midnight to 1 am. All European Union countries, plus Switzerland and the countries of Eastern Europe, have adopted the same calendar for standard and summer time since 1996.
A story that also has its drawbacks
Although the clocks have been changing for many decades, right on time, whenever the hands are moved forwards or backwards, there are always a few mix-ups. Often these are minor hiccups, such as arriving late or early for an appointment. At other times, however, bizarre incidents have occurred that are still remembered today.
This was the case with the birth of twins in November 2008 in North Carolina (United States): on the night of the switch to standard time, twins were born. One, Peter, at 1.32 am; the other, Henry, at 2.25 am, although, as the time had changed, this was recorded as 1.25 am. Therefore, according to the birth certificates, Henry, who was born second, is officially seven minutes older than Peter, who was born first.
