Daylight Saving Time
For centuries time was measured by the position of the sun with the use of sundials. Noon was recognized when the sun was the highest in the sky, and cities would set their clock by this Apparent Solar Time, even though some cities would often be on a slightly different time. “Summer time” or Daylight Saving Time (DST) was instituted to make better use of daylight. Thus, clocks are set forward one hour in the spring to move an hour of daylight from the morning to the evening and then set back one hour in the fall to return to normal daylight.
Benjamin Franklin first conceived the idea of daylight saving during his tenure as an American delegate in Paris in 1784 and wrote about it extensively in his essay, “An Economical Project.” It is said that Franklin awoke early one morning and was surprised to see the sunlight at such an hour. Always the economist, Franklin believed the practice of moving the time could save on the use of candlelight as candles were expensive at the time. In England, builder William Willett (1857–1915), became a strong supporter for Daylight Saving Time upon noticing blinds of many houses were closed on an early sunny morning. Willett believed everyone, including himself, would appreciate longer hours of light in the evenings. In 1909, Sir Robert Pearce introduced a bill in the House of Commons to make it obligatory to adjust the clocks. A bill was drafted and introduced into Parliament several times but met with great opposition, mostly from farmers. Eventually, in 1925, it was decided that summer time should begin on the day following the third Saturday in April and close after the first Saturday in October.
The United States Congress passed the Standard Time Act of 1918 to establish standard time and preserve and set Daylight Saving Time across the continent. This act also devised five time zones throughout the United States: Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific, and Alaska. The first time zone was set on “the mean astronomical time of the seventy-fifth degree of longitude west from Greenwich” (England). In 1919 this act was repealed. President Roosevelt established year-round Daylight Saving Time (also called “War Time”) from 1942–1945. However, after this period each state adopted their own DST, which proved to be disconcerting to television and radio broadcasting and transportation. In 1966, President Lyndon Johnson created the Department of Transportation and signed the Uniform Time Act. As a result, the Department of Transportation was given the responsibility for the time laws. During the oil embargo and energy crisis of the 1970s, President Richard Nixon extended DST through the Daylight Saving Time Energy Act of 1973 to conserve energy further. This law was modified in 1986, and Daylight Saving Time was set for beginning on the first Sunday in April (to “spring ahead”) and ending on the last Sunday in October (to “fall back”). Through the years the U.S. Department of Transportation conducted polls concerning daylight saving time and found that many Americans were in favor of it because of the extended hours of daylight and the freedom to do more in the evening hours. In further studies the U.S. Department of Transportation also found that DST conserves energy by cutting the electricity usage in the morning and evening for lights and particular appliances. During the darkest winter months (November through February), the advantage of conserving energy in afternoon daylight saving time is outweighed by needing more light in the morning because of late sunrise. In Britain, studies showed that there were fewer accidents on the road because of the increased visibility resulting from additional hours of daylight.
Despite these advantages, there is still opposition to DST. One perpetual complaint is the inconvenience of changing many clocks, and adjusting to a new sleep schedule. Farmers often wake at sunrise and find that their animals do not adjust to the changing of time until weeks after the clock is either moved forward or back. In Israel, Sephardic Jews have campaigned against Daylight Saving Time because they recite prayers in the early morning during the Jewish month of Elul. Many places around the globe still do not observe daylight saving time—such as Arizona (excluding Navajo reservations), the five counties in Indiana, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Japan, and Saskatchewan, Canada. Countries located near the equator have equal hours of day and night and do not participate in Daylight Saving Time.
