How Daylight Savings Started

Last Sunday, March 10th, at 2am, we all moved our clocks forward one hour, resulting in more daylight. On October 27, at 2am, the clocks will be moved back, resulting in less daylight. Iowa changes their clocks twice a year, however not all states in the US do.

Currently, the United States has 48 states that participate in Daylight Savings. The 2 states that don’t participate are Arizona and Hawaii. Hawaii doesn’t do Daylight Savings because they are closer to the equator, so their sunrises and sunsets don’t change much. So they wouldn’t get as much use out of Daylight savings. Also, Hawaii is so far away, that they don’t have to deal with neighboring states and their time changes. Arizona doesn’t participate because they are so hot. They get up around 110 degrees in the summer, so the last thing they want is more daylight.

The concept of daylight savings time was created by 3 people. The first one was Benjamin Franklin during the 18th century. His logic was that waking up closer to the sunrise made it so his house could be light for a longer period of time. Having more daylight hours made it so he didn’t have to use as many smoky, messy, and expensive candles. The second person was George Bernard Hudson, in the late 19th century, in New Zealand. He was an entomologist (study of zoology) and an astronomer (study of space). He suggested the idea of moving the clocks to the Wellington Philosophical Society. The third person was William Willet, in the early 20th century, in the United Kingdom. He was a builder for the Royal Astronomical Society. He introduced a bill to the British Parliament to officially accept the time change. All 3 of these men invented something that some like and some don’t, however, none of them expected daylight savings to be used for war.

During world war 1, the Germans decided to change their clocks to conserve energy. Right away, the British did the same thing, even after rejecting it for so many years. Changing the clocks allowed for more sunshine, and less electricity. Electricity was taking so much fuel, so changing the clocks allowed for less fuel, and more money to spend on food and supplies. Even though this worked out great for war, people back in the US were not sure about this new concept.

The liking of daylight savings was very spotty throughout the US. Neighboring states couldn’t agree, along with neighboring towns. For example, someone could have rode a bus 35 miles from Ohio to West Virginia, and they would cross between 7 different time zones. Finally, in 1966, the government passed the Uniform Time Act and standardized the time throughout the country. The law said that a state doesn’t have to have daylight savings if they don’t want to, but if they do, it needs to be statewide.

I think we should keep daylight savings, because I like to have more of the day and less of the night. Even though I get less sleep, I love waking up to a bright sun, and going to bed when the sun is setting.

Sources:

https://www.foxweather.com/lifestyle/the-history-of-daylight-saving-time

https://usafacts.org/articles/why-does-daylight-saving-time-exist/#:~:text=In%201918%2C%20the%20agency%20started,reduce%20the%20need%20for%20lighting.

Questions:

Do you like daylight savings time?

Do you think the whole country should have to change their clocks?

Do you think there is a better/easier way to save energy and daylight, other than changing the clocks?

You need to be a member of History 360 to add comments!

Join History 360

Replies are closed for this discussion.

Replies

  • You did a great job on your summary Allie! Be sure to comment back on three different days. This topic was also just done last week. 

  • No, becuase it takes away form my fishing time THey later it is at night the more fishign hours I get. Yes, we could all jsut get clocks that connect to the internet to they change automatically.

  • I personally don't like daylight savings since it messes up my sleep schedule. I don't think that the whole country should have to change their clocks, but I don't think we should change anything since we've been doing it for so long. 

  • I don't really have an opinion on daylight savings time, it doesn't affect me very much. I like having longer days, but I also don't like losing an hour of sleep. I don't think the whole country should have to change their clocks. I think it makes sense to keep it up to the states.

  • I'm ok with daylight saving time, I don't really mind it. I think it's nice when an additional hour is gained during autumn and I do prefer longer evenings during the summer. I can't think of any other better way to save energy than changing the clocks.

  • I kinda like it, it is interesting to change the time out of nowhere and live life that way. However, I do not enjoy it during winter, it gets dark very easily, it is kinda depressing. But during spring, it's amazing. Not every country should change their clock at the same time, it changes for different places. I do not have knowladge in order to come up with another idea to save energy or daylight, so I think changing the clock is the best.

    • I agree 100% with this. Daylight savings is great in the spring, but in the winter it is kind of depressing when we only have 7 or 8 hours of daylight. Also, it makes sense that other countries don't do daylight savings, just like Hawaii and Arizona, different places have different daylight.

  • yes I like daylight saving in october because I get to sleep longer. I don't think that it matters if the whole country does it because almost all of them do. No, because I think that changing the clockes 2 times a year is keeping us up to the daylight.

  • I think daylight savings time is very necessary for many things. I don't enjoy the lag of it on the day after the time change but I enjoy it being lighter later in the day. I think that it shouldn't really be treated like a punishment, it benefits lots of people!

  • i dont get the point of it. I think if one pat has to the whole country should too. they could just set a timer on thing in the house to shut off and turn on at a certent time.

This reply was deleted.
eXTReMe Tracker