The Winged Chariot of Time

Daylight Savings Time

Do you know why it's hotter in the summer than in the winter? Because in the summer we have an extra hour of daylight, which we take away in the winter.

--Anonymous

Debates over daylight savings time continue around the world. Widespread opposition in Mexico, for instance, postponed its nation-wide implementation until 1996. Many viewed such alteration of their time as a exercise of centralized power. When Colorado first experimented with Daylight Savings Time newspapers were filled with hostile letters to the editor. One person complained that the government had no business fiddling with "God's time" and hinted that the principle of separation of church and state had been violated. Another griped how the extra hour of sunlight was burning up her yard.

Blame our "Spring forward, Fall back" ritual on the Brits. Although Benjamin Franklin toyed with the idea in a 1784 essay, credit is generally given to William Willett, a British builder and astronomer, who campaigned in 1907. Willet suggested that the clock be moved ahead by 80 minutes in four 20-minute increments during the spring and summer months. The benefits, he reasoned, would be extra time for recreation, less crime, and higher energy savings as people would use less fuel for lighting. But it took world war to finally put the time change into practice, and even then it didn't stick. Congress adopted year-round daylight-saving time for a two-year trial period that began Jan. 6, 1974. But it only lasted one season, once again a victim of public complaints. From 1975,the number of months falling to daylight-saving time was reduced until 1987, when Congress passed an amendment to the Uniform Time Act that made daylight-saving time run a full seven months.