The History Behind Daylight Saving Time

Does one hour make that much of a difference?

The rays of sun are getting weaker and colder air is slowly trickling in. You notice the days are shortening and the once sunny drive on your way home is becoming dimmer and darker. Then, every year on that one faithful day, the clocks turn back and your ride home now pitch black. As you grumble to yourself in the dark the whole way home, you think to yourself, what is the point of this Daylight Saving Time ordeal?  Since we just experienced “fall back,” The Lite Source is here to give you a little history behind the clock-changing madness.

The idea of Day Light Saving Time was first brought forward by Benjamin Franklin in an essay form called “An Economical Project.” Franklin wrote the essay while in Paris in 1784 and it wasn’t until over a century later that his idea was taken seriously.

In 1907, William Willett of London wrote a pamphlet called “Waste of Daylight” proposing to advance the clocks 20 minutes during each of the four Sundays in April and to retract the minutes during the four Sundays in September. Willett’s persistence led to a bill that was drafted and presented to Parliament in 1909. Unfortunately, it wasn’t until after Willett’s death that the bill was approved.

In 1916, Britain passed a daylight saving act that was put into play on May 21, 1916. Although there was some public confusion and concern about the process, the time change went as planned and the United States followed suit not long after.  

During World War I, the U.S. government established Daylight Saving Time in order to save energy for war production. Up until 1966, individual states and communities could choose to take part of Daylight Savings Time at their own discretion. After Congress passed the Uniform Time Act, the majority of U.S. citizens no longer had a choice about changing their clocks.

Not long ago in 2007, Daylight Saving Time was extended by four weeks. This was based on the possibility of saving 10,000 barrels of oil per day due to the reduction of energy used by companies during daylight hours.  

Believe it or not, there are a few U.S. territories that are exempt from this rule. Hawaii, Guam, Puerto Rico, American Samoa and the parts of Arizona do not follow the time change.

Do you live in a time-change exempt area?

Finding it darker than you like during this Day Light Savings transition? Turn on some natural lighting from an OttLite bulb and brighten up your night!

Have any questions or comments about this blog? Let us know by the box below!

~Charlene Marie