http://www.webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/g.html (This graphic came from this website) Countries that use daylight saving time and those that do not).
Why was daylight saving time started? It just makes mommies and children fussy for a few days or weeks. Why can’t we choose a time and stay with it? The sleepiness must cause car accidents, burnt meals, typing errors, marital arguments, etc. LOL
What is the history behind it? Here is what I found. The American law by which we turn our clock forward in the spring and back in the fall is known as the Uniform Time Act of 1966. Benjamin Franklin was the person who created this idea in an essay titled "An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light” which was first published in the Journal de Paris in April 1784. However, nearly 100 years later, in 1907, William Willett, an Englishman, suggested it again. When Willett passed by homes where the shades were down, even though the sun was up, he was spurred to write a pamphlet called "The Waste of Daylight" because of this observations. Therefore, Willett wanted to move the clock ahead by 80 minutes in four moves of 20 minutes each during the spring and summer months. His idea wasn’t embraced immediately, but Willett's idea didn't die. Ultimately, it led to the British Summer Time by an Act of Parliament in 1916. In 1918, in order to conserve resources for the war effort, the U.S. Congress placed the country on Daylight Saving Time for the remainder of WW I. It was observed for seven months in 1918 and 1919. The law, however, proved so unpopular that it was later repealed. (AND I CAN UNDERSTAND WHY!) However, when America went to war again, Congress reinstated Daylight Saving Time on February 9, 1942. Time in the U.S. was advanced one hour to save energy. It remained advanced one hour forward year-round until September 30, 1945. From 1945 to 1966, there was no U.S. law about Daylight Saving Time. So, states and localities were free to observe Daylight Saving Time or not. This lead to some confusion as to which states were on what time. So, In 1966, Congress decided to step in end the confusion and establish one pattern across the country. The Uniform Time Act of 1966 created Daylight Saving Time to begin on the last Sunday of April and to end on the last Sunday of October I understand that many of the nations that do observe Day Light savings time really needed to do so. Agrarian cultures built their societies around sunlight, waking up with the sun to work in the field and heading home as the sun goes down. But the industrial revolution should have freed it from this annoyance. The leaders of countries thought that instituting daylight saving time, adding an hour of sunlight to the afternoon, would prove to be better for most for a variety of reasons. The thought was Americans could be more productive — people could work longer, and when work was done it was still bright enough to run errands and stimulate the economy. The added daylight also meant more exposure to Vitamin D and the added time for people to exercise outdoors. In 2002, California asked for federal "approval" to move to a "year-round" Daylight Saving Time because of its energy crisis. One of the biggest reasons we change our clocks to Daylight Saving Time (DST) is that it reportedly saves electricity. Newer studies are showing this isn’t true.
In general, energy use and the demand for electricity for lighting our homes is directly connected to when we go to bed and when we get up. Bedtime for most of us is late evening through the year. Of course, when we go to bed, we turn off the lights and TV. Daylight Saving Time "makes" the sun "set" one hour later and therefore reduces the period between sunset and bedtime by one hour. Thus, it is thought that this means that less electricity would be used for lighting and appliances late in the day. We may use a bit more electricity in the morning because it is darker when we rise, but it is said that it is usually offset by the energy savings in the evening. However, is anyone really sleeping more? If I was sleeping 8 hours before, won’t still use electricity during my waking hours? If not a light, what about a radio, a TV, my computer…the COFFEE POT?
Studies done in the 1970s by the U.S. Department of Transportation show that we trim the entire country's electricity usage by about one percent EACH DAY with Daylight Saving Time.
Is that really worth it? I say save all of us mothers and fathers from grumpy children. Save us from marital arguments spurred by sleepiness. Save us from having to drive our cars more in order … to get some fresh air after that argument. Save us from late night snacking because we can’t go to sleep an hour early, as we are suppose to. Save us from yawning during business meetings. Save us from the embarrassment of nodding off as our best friends are trying to tell us their problems. LOL… I say let’s move our clock once and no more. Who is with me?
Off to take a nap,
Rachel
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