Nikole Stewart
Daylight savings is just around the corner, and soon everyone will be setting their clocks an hour ahead in preperation of spring and summer. While it’s an annoying routine, and some states don’t follow it anymore, there are a few interesting facts about daylight saving time that you might not be aware of.
6. Health Impact
Losing that hour of sleep during the springtime isn’t only annoying, but it also has an impact on your health. While it might not seem like much of a change, one of the most interesting facts about daylight saving time is that it can actually have a huge impact on your mental and physical well-being in the short term. According to Harvard Health Publishing, the transition causes darker mornings, which will decrease levels of the mood-boosting hormone serotonin. Along with that, lighter evenings can delay the production of melatonin, which helps you fall asleep, so your circadian rhythm will be wrecked.
5. Many States Are Against It
If you’d rather ignore the clock’s changing each year, you’re not alone. One of the most interesting facts about daylight saving time is that most states are against it; however, federal law stands in the way. Under the Uniform Time Act of 1966, states can either follow the current system of switching between standard and daylight saving time or opt out of daylight saving entirely, but it can’t be permanent without congressional approval. Currently, only Arizona and Hawaii do not observe daylight saving time.
4. It’s Not for the Farmers
Contrary to popular belief, daylight saving time was not intended to help farmers work in fields. Apparently, the agriculture industry was deeply opposed to the time switch that was first implemented on March 31, 1918. The change of the clock meant that farmers had to wait an extra hour for dew to evaporate to harvest hay, and hired hands worked less, and cows weren’t ready to be milked to meet shipping schedules.
3. Benjamin Franklin Didn’t Invent It
Another big misconception is that Benjamin Franklin had the idea of moving clocks forward. However, that’s not true. While he often spoke of the virtue of “early to bed and early to rise,” he was not practicing what he preached. He’s commonly thought to be the originator because he wrote a satirical essay in Journal de Paris in 1784, where he calculated that Parisians could save the modern-day equivalent of $200 million just by waking up at dawn, though he was just advocating for the change in sleep schedules, not the time itself.
2. Germany Was the First
During World War I, on April 30, 1916, Germany embraced daylight saving time to conserve electricity. Soon, more countries started to follow suit, with the United States adopting the practice in 1918. However, daylight saving time wasn’t standardized across the country until the passage of the 1966 Uniform Time Act, which gave the federal government oversight over the time change. Currently, 70 countries observe daylight saving time nationwide or in certain regions. However, most African and Asian countries skip the clock change.
1. Created by William Willett
If it wasn’t for the farmers, like most of us believe, then what is the true origin of daylight saving time? One of the most interesting facts about daylight saving time is its creation, which was by an Englishman named William Willett. While on horseback around the outskirts of London, Willet had a thought that if people moved their clocks forward by 80 minutes between April and October, more people could enjoy sunlight. And in 1907, Willet published the brochure “The Waste of Daylight” and spent most of his time trying to adopt “summer time.” Unfortunately, the British Parliament stymied the measure, and Willet died in 1916 at 58 without seeing his dream come true a year later.