The History of Daylight Savings

As most of you know, it is time to spring forward and change our clocks. But do you know why Daylight Savings Time exists?

The original idea was to save energy and make better use of the daylight. This started back in ancient civilizations where they would follow the Sun’s schedule and wake with the rising sun. Ben Franklin suggested in 1784 to make use of the morning light to save on the cost of candles, but Canada was the first to start DST in 1908, followed by Germany in 1916.

The United States introduced “Fast Time” in 1918 after Robert Garland came across the idea in the UK. President Woodrow Wilson signed it into law to help support the World War I war effort. This was repealed until Roosevelt brought it back in 1942. Roosevelt implemented year-round DST “War Time.” This went from February 1942 to September 30, 1945. During this time the time zones were called “Eastern War Time,” “Mountain War Time,” “Center War Time,” “Pacific War Time.”

The Uniform Time Act of 1966 was established because of the confusion created by not knowing when the time change would be every year from 1945-1966. This established DST time frames starting the last Sunday of April and ending on the last Sunday of October.

After energy saving efforts through the years, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 was written. This states that Daylight Savings Time will start on the 2nd Sunday of March and end on the 1st Sunday of November every year.

Now that you know why the clocks change, get ready for the longer days! Our goal is to help you reach your goals while freeing up your time for things you really want to do. If you are interested in more information, or for a FREE Business Analysis, call us at 202-469-6774.