Spring Forward, Fall Back

Did you know …

Since World War I, the United  States has used Daylight Savings Time so that the hours of sunshine would do the most good.

A chart from January, 1863

A chart from 1863 shows the time that the sun rose and set each day, broken down by months, for the whole year. It also shows that the sun rose at a different time in Boston, Massachusetts, (7:15 am) than Charleston, South  Carolina, (6:57 am) on January 31. On that same day, the sun set in Boston at 5:12 pm and at 5:31 pm in Charleston, so the days in winter were longer in the south.

A chart from July, 1863

In the summer, the sun rose much earlier. Those in Boston on July 1, 1863, saw the sun rise at 4:26 am and set at 7:40 pm. For people living in Charleston on the same day, the sun rose at 4:55 am and set at 7:11, so the summer days were longer in the north.

Daylight Savings Time was Benjamin Franklin’s idea

Benjamin Franklin first thought of the idea of Daylight Savings Time in 1784. He wrote about it in an essay, “An Economical Project.”

Today, Daylight Savings Time begins in March and ends in November

In the United States, Daylight Savings Time begins at 2:00 am on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November to make the best use of our daylight hours.

– Sandra Merville Hart

Wright, Samuel H. The Illustrated Family Christian Almanac for The United States for the Year of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ 1863, American Tract Society, 1863.