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Whether you are in the Northern Hemisphere, or the Southern, chances are that you adjusted your clocks recently because of Daylight Saving.
How did Daylight Saving Time begin?
According to John May (The Book of Curious Facts, Collins and Brown, London, UK, 1993, 24), it was first thought of by William Willett (1856-1915), who was not a mathematician nor an astronomer, but a London builder. Willett, obsessed with the idea, said the idea occurred to him one Summer morning when he noticed how many people had their blinds drawn, and thus were asleep, while he was up and about enjoying the sunshine. Willett devoted much effort and money to promoting the idea, and in 1908 the first Daylight Saving Bill was introduced to British parliament.
Willett suggested changing the clock by eighty minutes, by four separate movements. It first became law on May 17, 1916, a year after Willett had died, as a wartime measure to conserve fuel. The scheme was put in operation on the following Sunday, May 2nd. There was a storm of opposition. The Royal Meteorological Society warned the citizenry that Greenwich time would apply to movements of the tides. Eventually, in 1925, it was enacted that summer time should begin on the day following the third Saturday in April. The date for closing of summer time was fixed for the first Saturday in October.
However, other sources say that Benjamin Franklin originated the idea, and it might well be as he seems to have been the progenitor of everything else. His proposal – made with tongue in cheek – came during his sojourn as an American delegate in Paris in 1784, in an essay, ‘An Economical Project’.
“An accidental sudden noise waked me about six in the morning, when I was surprised to find my room filled with light; and I imagined at first, that a number of those lamps had been brought into it; but, rubbing my eyes, I perceived the light came in at the windows. I got up and looked out to see what might be the occasion of it, when I saw the sun just rising above the horizon, from whence he poured his rays plentifully into my chamber, my domestic having negligently omitted, the preceding evening, to close the shutters.
“I looked at my watch, which goes very well, and found that it was but six o'clock; and still thinking it something extraordinary that the sun should rise so early, I looked into the almanac, where I found it to be the hour given for his rising on that day. I looked forward, too, and found he was to rise still earlier every day till towards the end of June; and that at no time in the year he retarded his rising so long as till eight o'clock. Your readers, who with me have never seen any signs of sunshine before noon, and seldom regard the astronomical part of the almanac, will be as much astonished as I was, when they hear of his rising so early; and especially when I assure them, that he gives light as soon as he rises. I am convinced of this. I am certain of my fact. One cannot be more certain of any fact. I saw it with my own eyes. And, having repeated this observation the three following mornings, I found always precisely the same result.”
Benjamin Franklin, Letter to the Authors of The Journal of Paris, 1784
In America
Web Exhibits says that “In 1916, a nationwide campaign was begun in the United States for the support of daylight saving. For about a year the subject was the centre of controversy.
“In 1917, however, an Act was passed by Congress to advance United States time by one hour on the last Sunday in March and to put it back by one hour on the last Sunday in October. This Act was in force for one year from March 31 to October 27, 1918 and it was renewed from March 30, 1919.
“Meantime, there was an outcry throughout the continent, particularly from farmers, and the Act was repealed on August 20, 1919.”
Pip Wilson's articles are available for your publication, on application. Further details
Receive similar items free each day with a free subscription to Wilson's Almanac ezine. Send a blank email
Whether you are in the Northern Hemisphere, or the Southern, chances are that you adjusted your clocks recently because of Daylight Saving.
How did Daylight Saving Time begin?
According to John May (The Book of Curious Facts, Collins and Brown, London, UK, 1993, 24), it was first thought of by William Willett (1856-1915), who was not a mathematician nor an astronomer, but a London builder. Willett, obsessed with the idea, said the idea occurred to him one Summer morning when he noticed how many people had their blinds drawn, and thus were asleep, while he was up and about enjoying the sunshine. Willett devoted much effort and money to promoting the idea, and in 1908 the first Daylight Saving Bill was introduced to British parliament.
Willett suggested changing the clock by eighty minutes, by four separate movements. It first became law on May 17, 1916, a year after Willett had died, as a wartime measure to conserve fuel. The scheme was put in operation on the following Sunday, May 2nd. There was a storm of opposition. The Royal Meteorological Society warned the citizenry that Greenwich time would apply to movements of the tides. Eventually, in 1925, it was enacted that summer time should begin on the day following the third Saturday in April. The date for closing of summer time was fixed for the first Saturday in October.
However, other sources say that Benjamin Franklin originated the idea, and it might well be as he seems to have been the progenitor of everything else. His proposal – made with tongue in cheek – came during his sojourn as an American delegate in Paris in 1784, in an essay, ‘An Economical Project’.
“An accidental sudden noise waked me about six in the morning, when I was surprised to find my room filled with light; and I imagined at first, that a number of those lamps had been brought into it; but, rubbing my eyes, I perceived the light came in at the windows. I got up and looked out to see what might be the occasion of it, when I saw the sun just rising above the horizon, from whence he poured his rays plentifully into my chamber, my domestic having negligently omitted, the preceding evening, to close the shutters.
“I looked at my watch, which goes very well, and found that it was but six o'clock; and still thinking it something extraordinary that the sun should rise so early, I looked into the almanac, where I found it to be the hour given for his rising on that day. I looked forward, too, and found he was to rise still earlier every day till towards the end of June; and that at no time in the year he retarded his rising so long as till eight o'clock. Your readers, who with me have never seen any signs of sunshine before noon, and seldom regard the astronomical part of the almanac, will be as much astonished as I was, when they hear of his rising so early; and especially when I assure them, that he gives light as soon as he rises. I am convinced of this. I am certain of my fact. One cannot be more certain of any fact. I saw it with my own eyes. And, having repeated this observation the three following mornings, I found always precisely the same result.”
Benjamin Franklin, Letter to the Authors of The Journal of Paris, 1784
In America
Web Exhibits says that “In 1916, a nationwide campaign was begun in the United States for the support of daylight saving. For about a year the subject was the centre of controversy.
“In 1917, however, an Act was passed by Congress to advance United States time by one hour on the last Sunday in March and to put it back by one hour on the last Sunday in October. This Act was in force for one year from March 31 to October 27, 1918 and it was renewed from March 30, 1919.
“Meantime, there was an outcry throughout the continent, particularly from farmers, and the Act was repealed on August 20, 1919.”
Pip Wilson's articles are available for your publication, on application. Further details
Receive similar items free each day with a free subscription to Wilson's Almanac ezine. Send a blank email
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