The history and purpose of Daylight Saving Time

It’s time to once again reset the clocks; Daylight Saving Time (DST) is here! For much of the United States, clocks are set one hour ahead on the second Sunday in March and then back an hour on the second Sunday in November. The exceptions are Arizona and Hawaii, which do not observe DST. The most popular reasons for observing DST is that it provides for longer days in the cold weather months, allowing workers to keep regular shifts and that it saves on electricity and other forms of consumer-used power.

So, who came up with this idea? Originally, Benjamin Franklin broached the subject in an essay he wrote, entitled, “An Economical Project,” in 1784. It wasn’t until 1907, however, that the idea of DST was seriously considered. British builder William Willett brought the subject to light in his pamphlet, “A Waste of Daylight.” In the pamphlet, Willett says,

Everyone appreciates the long, light evenings. Everyone laments their shortage as Autumn approaches; and everyone has given utterance to regret that the clear, bright light of an early morning during Spring and Summer months is so seldom seen or used.

The idea of DST turned out to be a love/hate topic. Its proponents were fierce and spent vast sums of money lobbying for DST to become law. Its opponents did the same. The first time a form of DST was introduced was in 1909, but it wasn’t formally adopted in the United States until March 18, 1918. It was called “An Act to preserve daylight and provide standard time for the United States.”

The U.S. is not the only country to observe DST. In fact, about 70 countries throughout the world operate under it. The only industrialized countries that do not use DST are China, India and Japan.

For the majority of folks who oppose DST, their main complaint is losing an hour of sleep. Research has shown that “night owls” are more affected by the time change than “early birds.” It’s been suggested that it could take a “night owl” up to 2 weeks to get adjusted to the new time! For tips on how to make the change as painless as possible, read this article on sleepeducation.com.