A HISTORY OF DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME

1784

While serving diplomatic duty in Paris, Benjamin Franklin becomes the first to suggest shifting clocks forward in the spring and back in the fall to save money on candles.

1883

Time zones are established in the U.S. and Canada by the railroads to help standardize travel schedules.

1884

The International Prime Meridian Conference in Washington, D.C., establishes a worldwide set of time zones still in use today.

1895

New Zealand entomologist George Vernon Hudson presents a plan to shift time two hours in the summer.

1907

London builder William Willett proposes advancing clocks 20 minutes every Sunday morning in April and then reversing that in September.

1909

Willett’s plan is brought before Britain’s House of Commons, where it meets with strong opposition from farmers.

1916

Germany and Austria-Hungary move clocks up during World War I. Russia and a few other countries follow suit the next year. Britain finally establishes a onehour “summer time” shift.

1918

The Standard Time Act makes official the time zones established in the U.S. 35 years before and establishes daylight saving time.

1919

Under pressure from farming interests, Congress repeals daylight saving time.

1922

President Warren G. Harding opposes the return of daylight saving time but instead orders federal employees to work an hour early in the summer.

1925

British Parliament establishes “summer time” to begin the day after the third Sunday in April and ending the day after the first Saturday in October.

1940

Britain does not move clocks back at the end of the summer of 1940. As a result, the country observes “double summer time” during the summer months of World War II.

1942

Congress moves clocks up an hour in the U.S., calling it “war time.” Clocks are not returned to standard time until September 1945.

1966

President Lyndon Johnson signs the Uniform Time Act, setting the start of a uniform daylight saving time in the U.S.: the last Sunday in April. It is to end the last Sunday in October.

1974

In the middle of an energy crisis, Congress temporarily extends daylight saving time in the U.S. It starts in January in 1974 and in February the following year.

1975

A study by the U.S. Department of Transportation shows that daylight saving time reduces the country’s energy usage by about 1% a day. The next year, another study by the National Bureau of Standards disputes the findings.

1986

President Ronald Reagan signs a bill changing the start of daylight saving time in the U.S. to the first Sunday in April.

2006

The state of Indiana begins observing daylight saving time throughout the state. However, Indiana remains divided by a time zone.

2007

Daylight saving time is again extended in the U.S. It now begins the second Sunday in March and ends the first Sunday in November.

2019

Four states — Washington, Oregon, California and Florida — pass legislation to make daylight saving time permanent. However, states can only opt out of daylight saving time. They cannot legislate standard time. Only the federal government can do that.