40 years ago today, on November 21, 1985 (October 10, 1985 in the lunar calendar), the British government decided to cancel Greenwich Mean Time. On November 21, 1985, the British government decided that it was impossible to continue to maintain "Greenwich Mean Time" due to the heavy burden. The Royal Observatory in Greenwich began timing work in 1675. In 1884, Britain's national strength flourished and became a global pioneer in industry and technology. Greenwich Time has also been recognized by the world as the official international standard time. However, time passed and the British economy was a little depressed, which led the government to plan to cut scientific research spending and decided to stop operating the Observatory's six costly atomic clocks starting in 1986. Pierre Quinton, the observatory's chronograph chief, admitted that he was very sad to see a century-old tradition dying out and believed that it was a mistake of the times.