What You May Not Know About Daylight Saving Time

Whether you are for or against the time hop we have to do twice a year, it’s coming. It’s once again time to Spring Forward into longer days. If you’ve ever wondered how we ended up with this bi-annual ritual read up on some little-known facts surrounding Daylight Savings Time. And make sure to set your clocks this Sunday, March 10th, 2024!

The plan for Daylight Savings was actually a joke

Ben Franklin’s Idea for Daylight Saving Time was made in a satirical essay published in 1784, he wrote:

“All the difficulty will be in the first two or three days; after which the reformation will be as natural and easy as the present irregularity […] Oblige a man to rise at four in the morning, and it is more than probable he will go willingly to bed at eight in the evening; and, having had eight hours sleep, he will rise more willingly at four in the morning following.”

To enforce the outrageous plan, Franklin suggested taxing shutters, rationing candles, banning non-emergency coach travel after dark, and firing cannons at sunrise to rouse late-sleepers. This plan was considered to be a jab at the French, who were known for laziness and wasting daylight. 

Bug hunting was the impetus for the time change

In 1895, a postal worker and hobbyist entomologist from New Zealand grew frustrated that his bug hunting hours were cut short by the sun setting so early in his prime bug hunting season. Needing extra daylight hours, he put forth the idea to a scientific society that clocks could be turned back in the winter when people, and bugs, were less likely to be found. His article was quickly thought to be preposterous and the idea was shelved. 

World War I marked the first use of Daylight Saving

In 1916, Germany became the first country to adopt the time-saving plan. This was done in an effort to conserve coal rations during the war. The trend spread to Britain and eventually to the United States. However, after the war ended the plan was no longer observed.

We save energy…slightly, but at what cost?

The U.S. reconsidered DST in the 1970s, when, once again, the argument pivoted back to energy conservation. The oil embargo of 1973 had kicked off a nationwide energy crisis and the government was looking for ways to reduce public consumption. Daylight Saving Time was imposed at the beginning of 1974 to save energy in the winter months. However, despite decades of utilizing Daylight Savings Time, studies have shown an uptick in energy usage by about 1%  as a result. Lighting costs do typically decrease but heating and general electricity usage costs tend to make up for any gains. 

Whether we factor in the marginal energy savings or not, the stress of the time change on humans seems to be the greatest loss. As a result of the time change and loss of sleep we encounter while our circadian rhythms adjust, the human body suffers from decreased immunity and a host of other maladies. Studies have shown that an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, susceptibility to illness can all be linked to DST. And most notably, seasonal affectation disorder is often sparked when the time changes.

Daylight Savings is designed to be less inconvenient

Do you ever wonder why the time change occurs at 2 a.m. rather than midnight? It’s to help lessen the confusion with night-shift workers, restaurants, and bars as well as affecting the operating hours of many businesses. 

As recently as 2007, the US made another adjustment to Daylight Savings Time, at the behest of the Candy Industry. Halloween night fell during the earlier sunset times causing kids to lose an hour of trick-or-treating, leading to less candy being bought to hand out. Lobbyists for the Candy Industry pressured senators for decades to extend Daylight Savings to November. 

 

Article Information gathered from MentalFloss.com and Almanac.com