Why Turn Back the Clock?
Daylight Saving Time is an event spanning from March 12th to November 5th. The most recent, would be last Saturday when the time went from 1:59 AM back to 1:00 AM. The idea for DST is often credited to Ben Franklin. However, that is not completely true. After waking up at 6:00 AM from the summer sun, Ben Franklin composed an essay, as a joke, about how waking up at dawn could save the equivalent to $200 million in the modern day economy. This would be due to using sunlight instead of candlelight. This essay often gives Ben Franklin credit for inventing DTS when in fact he just suggested a change in sleep schedule.
The real “founder” of Daylight Saving Time was William Willett. As an effort to have more people enjoy sunlight, Willett published a brochure called “The Waste of Daylight” and spent much of his fortune on campaigning. However, William died before his idea was adopted.
So what’s the point of Daylight Saving Time? It’s a way to implement an extra hour of sunlight in the night to enjoy. However, not every state is required to follow it. In fact, in 1965, states and cities could choose when to stop and start DTS whenever they please. At one point, there were over 23 different start and end times in Iowa alone. It was said that a bus on a 35-mile ride from Steubenville, Ohio, to Moundsville, West Virginia, passed through seven time changes. It wasn’t until 1966 that order came with the Uniform Time Act which stated DTS would be from the last Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October.
Daylight saving time is not just a way to give you an extra hour of sleep or a way to take one away. Instead, it is a convenience for us to be able to enjoy the long summer nights, an idea proposed by William Willett in 1905.
