Bulgaria Switches to Standard (Winter) Time, Extending the Day by One Hour

Last night, Bulgaria switched to winter (standard) time, which happens every year on the last Sunday in October. This means that clocks were set one hour back (from 4:00 to 3:00), resulting in a day that is an hour longer.

All modern computers, phones, smartphones, and electronic clocks automatically adjust to the new time. However, analog clocks need to be manually set.

The idea of changing the clocks first occurred to the American statesman Benjamin Franklin, who suggested that Parisians should go to bed and rise earlier to make better use of daylight.

In practice, the idea was first implemented by the German government during World War I, in the period from April 30 to October 1, 1916.

The United Kingdom was the second country to adopt daylight saving time, initially running it from May 21 to October 1, 1916.

In Bulgaria, daylight saving time was first introduced on April 1, 1979.