Day-Light Saving Time (DST) - Brief History

Early Measurement of Time
In the Past - In olden days people used to measure time by the position of the Sun. Before the mechanical watches were invented, people used water clocks, sundial to check for time. Early mechanical watches started appearing in the first half of the 14th century. The first pendulum clock was made by Christian Guygens, a Dutch scientist, in 1665. First pendulum free clock was made in 1898. First quartz clocks were developed in 1920s.

Introduction of Standard Time in the UK
Britain was the first country to introduce one standard time throughout the country. The original idea came from Dr William Hyde Wollaston (1766-1828) and was popularized by Abraham Follett (1808-1903); and the Great Western Railway was the first to adopt this idea in 1840. By 1847 all railways were using London standard time. Most railways were using GMT in January 1848; and by 1855 most public was using GMT. The legal system finally changed to GMT on August 2, 1880.

Introduction of Standard Time in the USA
Standard in time zones were introduced in the US on November 18, 1883. Before this, the time of day was a local matter. The first man to realize the importance of standardized time was surprisingly an amateur astronomer William Lambert who presented this recommendation to Congress in 1809. Dowd revised his proposal in 1872, and it was adopted unchanged by the US and Canadian railways after 11 years (1883) but Detroit kept local time till 1890. In 1890, it decided to keep 28 minutes back than the Central Standard Time, but again reverted to solar time. In 1903, the Central Standard Time was adopted.

Introduction of Time Zones
Time zones were introduced both in Canada and in the US in 1883. International Standard Time (still in use) was introduced in 1884. But the US and Canadian railways had adopted Standard Time on November 18, 1883. Use of Standard Time in the US was made legalized in the US by the Standard Time Act of 1918 enacted on March 19.

The Beginning of DST
Benjamin Franklin is thought to have come up with the idea for daylight-saving time in 1784 - In a whimsical letter to a French journal, he said that Parisians could save thousands of francs a years by waking up earlier during the summer because it would prevent them from having to buy so many candles to light the evening hours. At that time he did not mention any DST term and did not propose any change of clock.

This idea was advocated by London builder Sir William Willet (1857-1915), in his pamphlet "Waste of Daylight" in 1907 (after almost 23 years). He proposed to increase 20 minutes forward on four Sundays in April, and decrease 20 minutes on four Sunday in September. He continued to lobby his idea spending a lots of money. His efforts produced fruits and in 1909, Sir Robert Pearce tried to introduce the Bill in House of Commons, but could not get support.

Following Germany, Britain passed an Act on May 17, 1916, and Willet's scheme of adding 80 minutes in four separate steps was implemented from May 21, 1916. But many organizations were not following it. Confusion was more in Edinburgh, Scotland. In 1925, it was officially approved that Summertime should begin on the 3rd Saturday in April or one week earlier if that day was Easter Day; and it should end on the 1st Sunday of October.

But its benefits were not recognized until World War II when the clocks were put 2 hours ahead of the GMT during the Summer - and this became known as Double Summer Time. During the War, clocks were only 1 hour ahead throughout the Winter.

Germany and Austria began their DST from April 30, 1916, at 11.00 pm by advancing the clock until next October. Other European countries - Denmark, Italy, France, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Turkey and Tasmania. Two Canadian states - Manitoba and Nova Scotia also started it on May 21, 1916. In 1917, Australia and Newfoundland (June 17, 1917) also started it.

The US first adopted its daylight-saving time In 1918, in the same act that created standard time zones, in an effort to save energy during World War I. It didn't prove popular, and, as a result, it was repealed the following year. Thus the DST has been in use in the US and other countries since World War I, but it was not adopted formally until March 19, 1918 when a law was enacted. This law established standard Time Zones and Summer DST to begin on March 31, 1918. First it was observed for 7 months in 1918 and 1919, but then it had to be reverted and it still remained only a local option in some stats - Massachusetts, Rhode Island and some cities - Philadelphia, New York and Chicago.

During World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt started DST for the whole year from February 2, 1942 to September 30, 1945. But again from 1945 to 1966, there was no Federal law regarding this.

Then President Nixon signed a law regarding this Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act of 1973. Then beginning from January 6, 1974, the clocks were set ahead for a 15-month period through April 27, 1975.

The Uniform Time Act in the US
The Uniform Time Act of 1966, signed by Lyndon Johnson on April 12, created DST to begin on the last Sunday of April and to end on the last Sunday of October throughout the country but if any state wished to be exempted from this could do so by passing the state law.

The Federal Law was amended in 1986 to begin DST on the 1st Sunday in April, at 2.00 am and ended at 2.00 am on the last Sunday of October.

And now the Energy Policy Act of 2005 extended the DST in the US, beginning from 2007, the time 
--will begin at 2.00 am on the 2nd Sunday of March and 
--will end at 2.00 am on the 1st Sunday of November.

(Excludes Saskatchewan in Canada, and Hawaii, most of Arizona, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands in the US)

Why At All Switch the Time?
The idea of saving energy was one primary motivation behind the 2007 shift, but it's arguable whether the change will be worthwhile. In 2007, the California Energy Commission estimated that the extra month would save the state only one-half of 1 percent of their current energy expenditures. As there's less of a need to switch on the lights if natural light will do, studies have shown the electricity conserved on the new schedule is actually pretty nominal. But look on the bright side. Those longer light-filled days are sure nice.

OBSERVANCE OF DST IN OTHER COUNTRIES IS HIGHLY VARIABLE

Today almost 70 countries observe DST either throughout the country or in a part. India, China and Japan are the only countries which do not observe this.