The beginnings of humanity were marked by the Sun. People worked 'from sunrise to sunset' to earn a living, a word that derives from the Latin adjective 'diurnal’ (‘diary’). As they became sedentary, various ancient cultures sought to follow the movements of the king of the stars to organize themselves better. They did this by measuring their shadows with a stick driven into the ground. In Greek, this stick would come to be known as a gnomon, from which the term ‘gnomonics’, the art of building sundials, originates. Thus began the process of taming time. That astronomical invention would reach us with the name of clock also from another Greek word, ‘horologion (‘hour indicator’).

Daylight saving time will come into effect on Saturday night into Sunday, when at 02:00 AM clocks will be moved forward to 03:00 AM. It is a practice that is increasingly questioned, but which will remain in force for at least until 2031 after the European Commission has automatically renewed the calendar.