Daylight saving time

[Herb]

Keep in mind that the 3 presidents that were all for this idiocy were all democrats. Wilson started it during WWI, FDR reinstituted it during WWII, and LBJ standardized when it starts and ends.

[Tbeck]

Not to turn this political but I'm pretty sure it was Nixon, a republican president that made DLS law in 73-74?
Yes Wilson and FDR utilized war time but it was a temporary adoption during war to save energy for production. I don't recall LBJ? but I do know Nixon signed DLS into law in 74.

[Herb]

Not to turn this political but I'm pretty sure it was Nixon, a republican president that made DLS law in 73-74?
Yes Wilson and FDR utilized war time but it was a temporary adoption during war to save energy for production. I don't recall LBJ? but I do know Nixon signed DLS into law in 74.

LBJ signed the uniform time act that set the dates for the time changes the same for the whole country.

Nixon signed a law making the DST year around for 2 years. It was supposed to save a bunch of oil. Didn't save squat.

But, historically, the 3 main pushes for it were wilsom, fdr, and lbj.

[tabasco]

Was some talk a while back about ending DLS. Damn shame it didn't happen, I hate it.

I hear ya. In June and July I have to wait til 9pm or so for the campfire.

[Tbeck]

Herb, I'm sorry but I was under the impression DLS got traction in Germany, adopted by the UK shortly after, but had it's historical origins with Franklin in the late 1700's? I also thought LBJ was involved in standardized time zones, not DLS...do you have a source that says something else?
Regardless it was a republican president that made it permanent.

[Herb]

First of all, I don't really give a damn where it originated, what I am concerned with is the use of it in the USA, I couldn't care less what the rest of the world does. 2nd, DST is NOT a permanent item, any state that wants to opt out can, but it was LBJ that signed the act that causes all states that CHOOSE to use it change the time on the same date. Nixon tried to make it the permanent time, NOT that DST, as we know it, would be permanent, for a 2 year period, but that didn't last.

I did a little research on the history because I was not sure of the actual start of it, I only cared about what happened in the USA.

Note the comment Benjamin Frankin made about saving energy (candlepower).

There are some links in the article that have some interesting information that people may want to read.

https://www.timeanddate.com/time/dst/history.html

History of Daylight Saving Time (DST)
Daylight Saving Time (DST) is used to save energy and make better use of daylight. It was first used in 1908 in Thunder Bay, Canada.

DST makes for longer evenings.

What Is Daylight Saving Time?
DST is a seasonal time change measure where clocks are set ahead of standard time during part of the year, usually by 1 hour. As DST starts, the Sun rises and sets later, on the clock, than the day before.

Today, about 40% of countries worldwide use it to make better use of daylight and to conserve energy.

Does DST really save energy?

DST can cause health problems

First Used in Canada in 1908
While Germany and Austria were the first countries to use DST in 1916, it is a little-known fact that a few hundred Canadians beat the German Empire by 8 years. On July 1, 1908, the residents of Port Arthur, Ontario, today's Thunder Bay, turned their clocks forward by 1 hour to start the world's first DST period.

The world's first clock change in detail

Other locations in Canada soon followed suit. On April 23, 1914, Regina in Saskatchewan implemented DST. The cities of Winnipeg and Brandon in Manitoba did so on April 24, 1916. According to the April 3, 1916, edition of the Manitoba Free Press, Daylight Saving Time in Regina “proved so popular that bylaw now brings it into effect automatically”.

Germany Popularized DST
However, the idea did not catch on globally until Germany introduced DST in 1916. Clocks in the German Empire, and its ally Austria, were turned ahead by 1 hour on April 30, 1916—2 years into World War I. The rationale was to minimize the use of artificial lighting to save fuel for the war effort.

Within a few weeks, the idea was followed by the United Kingdom, France, and many other countries. Most of them reverted to standard time after World War I, and it wasn’t until the next World War that DST made its return in most of Europe.

Who Invented DST?
If you think Daylight Saving Time is a good idea, thank New Zealand scientist George Vernon Hudson and British builder William Willett. In 1895, Hudson presented a paper to the Wellington Philosophical Society, proposing a 2-hour shift forward in October and a 2-hour shift back in March. There was interest in the idea, but it was never followed through.

In 1905, independently from Hudson, British builder William Willett suggested setting the clocks ahead 20 minutes on each of the 4 Sundays in April, and switching them back by the same amount on each of the 4 Sundays in September, a total of 8 time switches per year.

First Daylight Saving Bill
Willett’s Daylight Saving plan caught the attention of the British Member of Parliament Robert Pearce who introduced a bill to the House of Commons in February 1908. The first Daylight Saving Bill was drafted in 1909, presented to Parliament several times and examined by a select committee. However, the idea was opposed by many, especially farmers, so the bill was never made into a law.

Willett died in 1915, the year before the United Kingdom started using DST in May 1916. It is not known if he was aware that his idea had become a reality 7 years prior to his death in a small town in Ontario.

Benjamin Frankin, the Father of DST?
Many sources also credit Benjamin Franklin with being the first to suggest seasonal time change. However, the idea voiced by the American inventor and politician in 1784 can hardly be described as fundamental for the development of modern DST. After all, it did not even involve turning the clocks. In a letter to the editor of the Journal of Paris, which was entitled “An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light”, Franklin simply suggested that Parisians could economize candle usage by getting people out of bed earlier in the morning. What's more: Franklin meant it as a joke.

An Ancient Idea
Although modern DST has only been used for about 100 years, ancient civilizations are known to have engaged in comparable practices thousands of years ago. For example, the Roman water clocks used different scales for different months of the year to adjust the daily schedules to the solar time.

Daylight Saving Today
Daylight Saving Time is now used in over 70 countries worldwide and affects over 1 billion people every year. The beginning and end dates vary from one country to another.

[BoDog]

Well… Whoever it was, I thank them. [emoji106]

[Tbeck]

Chief, I always loved being stationed in the UK. Sun was up at 4 in the morning and stayed up until 10pm. And loads of great twisty roads