Daylight Savings history

By Chelsea Natale, 2027

Published 3/8/2024

Originally starting in Port Arthur, Ontario Canada on July 1st, 1908, Daylight Savings Time (DST) began as a way to preserve sunlight in spring and summer. DST would be popularized by the Germans a few years later in April of 1916 to preserve energy during World War I. More countries around the world soon followed.

Two years into fighting World War I, on April 30th, 1916, allies Germany and Austria-Hungary decided to turn their clocks one hour. Both countries wanted to use as little artificial light as possible to use more fuel for the war efforts and weaponry. The United Kingdom and most of Europe began to use DST a few weeks later. However, then, there was a break in the use of DST and it wasn't used again in Europe until World War II.

Before World War I in 1905, Robert Pearce, a member of the UK’s Parliament suggested a Daylight Savings Bill to the rest of Parliament. The bill was drafted but never got anywhere after. It wouldn’t be until May of 1916 that the UK Parliament would pass the Daylight Savings Bill into a law.

DST can be traced about 10 years before Robert Pearce suggested the Daylight Savings Bill in 1905. The idea originally was invented in 1895 in New Zealand by George Vernon Hudson, a New Zealand scientist, and William Willet, a British builder. The pair proposed the idea of a two hour daylight saving to the Wellington Philosophical Society who showed interest in the idea. Daylight Savings wouldn’t be mentioned again until 1905 when Willet independently proposed the idea of 20-minute shifts over a few weeks in March and September. 

Some would say that ideas of Benjamin Franklin in 1784 would inspire future scientists to create Daylight Savings. A letter to the editor of the Journal of Paris written by Franklin titled “An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light” suggested that Parisans could get out of bed earlier, economizing the usage of candles. However, Franklin was merely joking about the idea, and henceforth, Parisans never had to wake up early.

Today, DST is used across 70 countries around the world with start and end dates varying on each country. More than one billion people are affected by the changes of DST, and even to this day, it is a controversial topic, especially in America, where one state has even decided to opt out of it and other's argue its necessity. This year in the U.S., daylight savings will begin on March 10th, 2024 and end on November 3rd, 2024.