A Brief History on Daylight Savings Time

On November 7, 2021, daylight savings time finally concluded in the United States. All clocks were set forward by an hour, allowing many Americans to be able to sleep for an extra hour, disrupting their sleep schedules. Regardless of the change, many Americans know of the effects of daylight savings, but surprisingly, daylight savings’ history is often overlooked. In elementary schools around the nation, children are taught a variety of lessons on daylight savings and its history. For example, one common lesson is that daylight savings was created to help farmers with their planting schedules. After elementary school, the topic of daylight saving is not covered again by the educational system, which leads to many misconceptions about daylight savings.

One such misconception is that daylight savings time has existed in the United States since it became a nation in 1776. Daylight savings was created and adopted by Germany on May 1, 1916, in an effort to conserve fuel during World War I (NBC Chicago). Not long after, most of Europe would also adopt daylight savings for the same purpose. The United States would first adopt daylight savings on March 19, 1918. Though, it would be abolished after World War I due to its unpopularity. During World War II, President Roosevelt reinstituted daylight saving in the US from 1942 to 1945. Daylight saving became standard in the United States after the Uniform Time Act of 1966 was passed, which stated that on the last Sunday of April, clocks would advance an hour and on the last Sunday of October, the clocks would turn back an hour. Over time, daylight savings would change to what it is today, starting on the second Sunday of March and ending on the first Sunday of November. Regardless of the Uniform Time Act, states can choose to be exempt from participating in daylight savings, as long as the whole state agrees to not follow daylight savings. As of 2021, Arizona and Hawaii are the only states that do not participate in daylight savings (NBC Chicago).

Daylight savings was created and adopted by Germany in the early 1900s to conserve materials during World War I. Europe would adopt daylight savings soon after Germany. The United States would use daylight savings on and off until the Uniform Time Act of 1966 was passed, making it standard. Regardless, states could be exempted from using daylight savings, leaving Hawaii and Arizona as the only two states who wish to not participate in daylight savings. Overall, daylight savings time is a significant event that occurs each year, which has an interesting history that should be recognized.

References

NBC Chicago. “How Daylight Saving Time Got Started.” NBC Chicago, NBC Chicago, 4 Nov. 2021, https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/how-daylight-saving-time-got-started/2666081/.