Why We Have Daylight Savings Time

By: Breanna Naysmith

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Daylight Savings is when we change the clocks during warmer months so that darkness falls at a later clock time allowing for the sun to be up later in the day.

So, who thought of this, and what made them come up with the idea? Benjamin Franklin came up with the idea to set back clocks in the summer months as a way to conserve energy. Moving the clocks forward allows people to take advantage of the extra evening daylight. It brings us to use more natural light, saving the energy and cost of electrical lighting. When he first pondered this, Franklin was an ambassador to Paris and wrote a letter to the Journal of Paris in 1784. The letter was him rejoicing over his realization that the sun provides light as soon as it rises. His idea to set clocks back did not begin until World War I. In 1916, locations within the German Empire set clocks ahead one hour in an effort to use less power for lighting and to save fuel for the war effort. After the war ended, farmers objected to keeping daylight savings because they lost an hour of morning sunshine. DST was no longer used until the second World War came around in 1942. President Franklin Roosevelt re-established daylight saving time year-round, calling it "War Time." From then on, it was made optional whether the clocks were set back or not.

In 1973 the US made daylight saving a yearly event that lasted 10 months. Then, in 1975, they reduced it to eight months. Since 2006, DST (daylight savings time) officially begins in the U.S. on the second Sunday in March, when people move their clocks forward an hour at 2 a.m. local standard time. At 2 a.m. on that day, the clocks will then read 3 a.m. Daylight saving time ends on the first Sunday in November, when clocks are moved back an hour at 2 a.m. They will then read 1 a.m. local standard time. Now lasting for 7 months in a year.

Now, most of the United States participate in DST on the same dates (with a few exceptions). Hawaii and Arizona are the two U.S. states that don't participate in daylight saving time, although Navajo Nation in northeastern Arizona, does.

Daylight Savings Time- Myth or Fact

People tend to have more heart attacks on the Monday following the "spring forward" switch to daylight saving time. Researchers reporting in 2014 found that heart attacks increased 24% on that Monday, compared with the daily average number for the weeks surrounding the start of DST.

DST was not created to help farmers. Most farmers would prefer daylight savings to not even exist.

A study published in 2009 showed that during the week following the "spring forward" into DST, mine workers got 40 minutes less sleep and had 5.7% more workplace injuries than they did during any other days of the year.

Pets may notice the time change as well. Since humans set the routines for their fluffy loved ones, dogs and cats living indoors and even cows will have their time schedules disrupted. For example, when you bring their food an hour late or come to milk them later than usual they will realize that the time has been set back.