The idea of dividing the day into 24 hours dates back to the ancient Egyptians. The Romans cut up the daylight into 12 periods of equal length that they called hours – but which actually varied in duration according to the time of year, from about 45 minutes in winter to 75 in summer. This wasn’t very precise, but it gave them their own version of daylight saving. Measuring time – done by sundial and water clock, if at all – remained an impressionistic business until the 17th century, when the pendulum clock was introduced. Even so, until the 19th century, time was a local affair. It was determined by local solar mean time: Bristol was ten minutes behind Greenwich.
That all changed with the railways: timetables had to be standardised,…
You're reading a preview of
The Week United Kingdom (Digital) - 1 Issue, 1377