The history & origin of daylight saving time

Two moments that keep people occupied every year are the ones when we need to move our clock forward or backwards. Yes, I’m talking about DST: Daylight Saving Time. Also commonly known as Daylight SavingS Time.

But what is the brief history of Daylight Saving Time? What was the original purpose and reason behind DST? Those are the questions that will be answered on this page.

What is Daylight Savings Time?

Let me first briefly explain to you what Daylight Saving Time actually means. The name can differ per country or region in the world. On this page I’m talking about Daylight Saving(s) Time, often shortened to DST. But others might call it Daylight Time or, most often in European countries, it is split up in two moments: Winter Time and Summer Time.

Whatever you call it, the procedure is the same: during fall we put our clock one hour back, in springtime we put our clock one hour forward. This means that during fall, or winter time, you “win” an hour while changing the clock. In springtime you “lose” one hour when changing the clock forward.

When is Daylight Savings Time?

It is not that easy to say when Daylight Savings Time occurs, whether it is fall or spring. The day decided to change our clocks is partially politically, geographically and scientifically influenced. For example: Europe chooses the last Sunday of March and the last Sunday of October to put their clocks back or forward. Where in the U.S. and Canada the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday of November are preferred.

But not only the day can differ, also the time to when the clocks are put back or forward. In this case, the countries that are members of the European Union, like Belgium, Germany or France, all change DST at the same time. Other countries might do it on the same day, but on a different hour because it is chosen by more local authorities.

History of Daylight Saving Time

Now let me tell you about the brief history of Daylight Savings Time. Why? Because a lot of people want to know more about the origin of Daylight Savings Time and also about the original purpose of Daylight Savings Time.

The origin of Daylight Savings Time can be found in the history of our society, the industrial history to be more precise. Because since we as a society industrialised, we are using clocks and watches to organise our lives, go to work, to school, to sleep and so much more. This was an important change. Because before the Industrial Revolution, our farming communities lived according to sunset and sunrise to organise our days. This was on many fronts a positive evolution, but it also had major disadvantages, like the rise of cases of rickets disease.

The original purpose of Daylight Savings Time was a way to return back to this state of living more according to the rhythm of nature. That is why George Hudson talked about Daylight Savings Time for the first time in history, in one of his writings in 1895. But around this time, other people also came up with the idea of introducing DST into our society. The main complaint was that by strictly following our clocks, we lost several hours of daylight. And not alone for work, but also for pleasure and free time.

During history, societies shifted in a more natural way to a kind of DST. But the industrialised introduction of time, with our clock, forced us to not change time a little bit, like seconds, per day, but with one hour in fall and one hour in spring. This gives us a more brutal way of adapting to the rhythm of nature. Or of course, you drink a strong cappuccino to wake up.

This does not mean that farmers are such a big fan of DST. They always follow the sunset and sunrise so do not have a strong need to adjust their clocks. Factories or other companies on the other hand do.

Which country first introduced Daylight Savings Time in history?

While we now know the history of Daylight Savings Time, I bet you also want to know which country first introduced DST.

Well, the answer is not the U.S.A. but … Canada in 1908. To be more precise, it were cities like Port Arthur and Orillia that adopted DST. If we would talk about countries, it would be the German empire and the double monarchy of Austria-Hungary that adopted for the first time in history nationwide the Daylight Savings Time. This was in 1916.

When did the U.S.A. adopt Daylight Savings Time?

It was not until 1918 that the U.S. implemented Daylight Savings Time. The reason behind Daylight Saving Time was energy conservation during the First World War. After the war, DST was not the standard until 1966.

Why not a permanent Daylight Saving Time?

Every year in history since its introduction, people question the changing of their clocks. What is the big purpose of Daylight Saving Time? Do we still need to put our clock an hour back or forward? Or can we just live in a state of permanent Daylight Saving Time?

A lot of research has gone into DST and its meaning for our society. We are not just talking about energy preservation or living according to nature. It is still an economical question, but also one about our health.

A group of scientists say that changing our clocks in fall and spring is too abrupt, which is not good for sleep and health. Other studies show that we should choose an average Daylight Saving Time so our internal clocks in our bodies only have to shift a bit, according to sunsets or sunrises.

History and Origin of Daylight Saving Time

It is clear that it is both a scientific and political decision that should be taken as a nationwide, and maybe even global, decision. Which is not that easy and maybe the main reason why we still have this kind of tradition to change our clocks in fall and spring.

I hope that you had a nice read on this page and that you learned a bit more about the history and origin of Daylight Saving Time.

Pictures:
Coloured clocks
Coin