Because it revolves around this axis at an angle, different parts of our planet experience the sun's direct rays at different times of the year, leading to the seasons. Īs Earth orbits the sun, it also spins around its own imaginary axis. Related: Read more about the science of summer. During the summer season in each hemisphere, Earth, which revolves around its axis at an angle, is tilted directly toward the sun. That's because the days start to get longer as Earth moves from the winter season to spring and summer, with the longest day of the year on the summer solstice. However, those who do observe DST take advantage of the natural daylight in the summer evenings. Why do we have daylight saving time?įewer than 40% of the world's countries observe daylight saving time, according to.
Then, in 2007, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 went into effect, expanding the length of daylight saving time to the present timing. That federal law meant that any state observing DST - and they didn't have to jump on the DST bandwagon - had to follow a uniform protocol throughout the state in which daylight saving time would begin on the first Sunday of April and end on the last Sunday of October. And in 1966, to tame such "Wild West" mayhem, Congress enacted the Uniform Time Act. states and towns were given the choice of whether or not to observe DST led to chaos. 9, 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt re-established daylight saving time year-round, calling it "War Time."Īfter the war, a free-for-all system in which U.S. (It's a myth that DST was instituted to help farmers.) And so daylight saving time was abolished until the next war brought it back into vogue. Though President Woodrow Wilson wanted to keep daylight saving time after WWI ended, the country was mostly rural at the time and farmers objected, partly because it would mean they lost an hour of morning light. (Image credit: Topical Press Agency/Getty Images) (opens in new tab) time zones and daylight saving time, which would begin on March 31. President Woodrow Wilson, shown here, signed the Standard Time Act in 1918, establishing U.S. And in 1918, the United States adopted daylight saving time. The rest of Europe came onboard shortly thereafter.
Germany established DST in May 1916, as a way to conserve fuel during World War I. At the time, Franklin was ambassador to Paris, and he wrote a witty letter to the Journal of Paris in 1784, rejoicing over his "discovery" that the sun provides light as soon as it rises.Įven so, DST didn't officially begin until more than a century later. By moving clocks forward, people could take advantage of the extra evening daylight rather than wasting energy on lighting. Why did daylight saving time start?īenjamin Franklin takes the honor (or the blame, depending on your view of the time changes) for coming up with the idea to reset clocks in the summer months as a way to conserve energy, according to David Prerau, author of " Seize the Daylight (opens in new tab): The Curious and Contentious Story of Daylight Saving Time" (Thunder's Mouth Press, 2005). began on March 13, 2022, and it ends on Nov. 7 in the U.S., when most Americans set the clock back an hour, and the cycle will began again.
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