Today In History: Daylight Savings Time Begins

Spring forward and fall back.

On March 31st, 1918, the practice of setting clocks one hour forward began in the United States. A wartime measure that allowed greater use of daylight to save on energy, Daylight Savings Time initially was introduced in Germany during World War One, and it eventually was formalized by the United States Congress in 1966 with the Uniform Time Act. The aim was to standardize its start and end dates, from the second Sunday in March until the beginning of November. 

Clock confusion in previous decades occurred throughout the country, along with objections to sleep disruption, even if for an hour.  Today only the states of Hawaii and (most of) Arizona maintain a standard year-round time -- due to Hawaii's proximity to the equator and Arizona's otherwise extensively long hot summer evenings where residents would be using even more electricity to cool their homes in some of the country's hottest cities. Arizona aligns with Pacific Daylight Time in the summer and Mountain Time in the winter.

The debate over whether to change clocks still continues. Do we opt for a year-round standard time; a year-round daylight savings time; or just keep our clocks running as they are, with neither year-round standard or daylight savings? Although we could avoid long dark winter mornings, we would begin shifting daylight hours due to Earth's rotation on its axis. A complicated situation, also with world clocks to consider .... though we are well set for 2026, having started daylight savings on March 8th ... and looking forward to lighter days of Spring, longer days of Summer.

The following articles are drawn from Proquest Historical Newspapers, which informs and inspires classroom teaching and learning.

• Botsford, H. (1948, Nov 14). Time Staggers On: It's Still Hard to Catch a Train. Until 65 Years Ago It Was Almost Impossible, Unless You Had Six Watches. Los Angeles Times (1923-1995) 
• Daylight Time Nears Unity Across Nation: Only Few States Have Special Status. (1967, Apr 30). Chicago Tribune (1963-1996) 
• Daylight Savings Time Returns; Spring Forward. (1970, Apr 25). New Journal and Guide (1916-) 
• Standard Time to Return Sunday. (1974, Oct 25). St. Cloud Daily Times (1941-1988) 
• Tropp, M. (1978, Nov 12). 'A Pivotal Moment in Modern Western History': The Great War Did More Than Decimate a Generation. It Changed the World Forever. Boston Globe (1960-) 
• Beck, J. (1979, Apr 30). That Extra Hour of Light. The Hartford Courant (1923-) 
• Daniels, H. (1980, Apr 27). The Modern Almanac: Time to Change.  Chicago Tribune (1963-1996) 
• Well, It's About Time: With Daylight Saving, You Gain an Hour of Fun in the Sun. (2003, Apr 02). The Washington Post (1974-) 
• Daylight Saving Time Is Coming, Golf Can't Wait (2025, Mar 08). The Bangor Daily News (1900-) 
• Permanent Daylight Saving Time Proposed for State. (2025, Nov 14). Daily Record (1974-) 

Tips:

• Farndon, John. Time. Benchmark Books, 2004.  Curriculum ; QB209.5 .F37 2003.
• Montemayor, Carlos. Minding Time: A Philosophical and Theoretical Approach to the Psychology of Time. Brill, 2012. e-book.
• Nagelhout, Ryan. Time Zones. First edition, Gareth Stevens Publishing, 2015. e-book.
• Scientific American, eds. The Science of Sleep. First edition, Rosen Publishing Group, 2023. e-book.
• Slavov, Matias. Relational Passage of Time. Taylor & Francis, 2023. e-book.

Images:

• Untitled, Produced March 30, 1918, from the Berryman Political Cartoon Collection, Record Group 46, Records of the U.S. Senate, National Archives. NAID: 6011373.
• Daylight Savings, Canva.