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Some HistoryBenjamin Franklin:Benjamin Franklin, living in Paris, first conceived the notion of rising closer to sunrise to make better use of sunlight. Imagine, he said, how many candles could be saved if people awakened earlier. He never proposed putting the clocks forward, but he whimsically suggested firing cannons in each square at dawn "to wake the sluggards and open their eyes to their true interest." William Willett (1857-1915):British builder William Willett was up early each morning for his daily pre-breakfast horseback ride. He lamented that few people were enjoying the "best part of a summer day". Reflecting on this distressing waste of daylight, in 1905 a revolutionary idea came to him: putting the clocks forward in summer to save daylight. This would take advantage of the bright beautiful mornings and give more light in the evening, and yet not change anyone's normal waking hour. Thus was born the idea of daylight saving time.DST in Parliament:William Willett first proposed his idea in the British Parliament as the Daylight Saving Bill of 1908, and he fought for years to introduce the concept in Britain. There was very strong opinion on both sides. Among the many supporters were Winston Churchill, who gave a rousing pro-DST speech at Guildhall, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and astronomer Sir Robert Ball. But there was strong opposition from farmers, many scientists, and others. Willett was relentless in his pursuit of daylight saving time (later called summer time), but repeated attempts to pass a bill in Parliament all failed. He died never seeing his idea come to fruition.World War I: During World War I, DST was first adopted in Kaiser Wilhelm's Germany, which was quickly followed by Britain and by European countries on both sides of the war, and eventually, America. Daylight replaced artificial lighting and saved precious fuel for the war effort. Post-World War I: Britain continued summer time each year after the War ended, but many countries discontinued its use. American farmers defeated urban dwellers and President Woodrow Wilson to get DST repealed, returning the U. S. to "God's Time." Spotty and inconsistent use of daylight saving time in the United States and around the world caused problems, unusual incidents and, occasionally, tragedies. For example, disregard of a change to DST caused a major train wreck in France, killing two and injuring many. World War II:All combatants on both sides quickly adopted DST to save vital energy resources for the War. The United Kingdom extended summer for the entire year and later added double summer time (two hours advanced) in the summers. The U.S. enacted FDR's year-round DST law just 40 days after Pearl Harbor was attacked. After World War II:When World War II ended, some countries abandoned their wartime DST while others continued it into the postwar years. Britain reverted to its prewar policy of summer DST, except during a fuel crisis in 1947 when it temporarily utilized double DST. Chaos in the U. S. and the High Cost of Non-Uniform DST, 1960s: Widespread confusion was created when each U. S. locality could start and end DST as it desired. One year, 23 different pairs of DST start and end dates were used in Iowa alone. And on one West Virginia bus route, passengers had to change their watches seven times in 35 miles! The situation led to millions of dollars of costs to several industries, especially transportation and communications. Extra railroad timetables alone cost the equivalent today of over $12 million per year. BST, 1968-70: The U.K. experimented with year-round summer time, called British Standard Time (BST), for three years, from 1968 through 1970. Opposition from Northerners, farmers, and others led to the end of BST, even though some studies showed economic advantages and decreases in road accidents and energy costs. Oil Embargo, 1973:The Arab Oil Embargo caused the first prolonged peacetime energy shortage in the United States. President Richard Nixon and Congress quickly established year-round daylight saving time to save energy. The U. S. Department of Transportation found that with almost no cost as compared to other energy conservation options, DST reduced the national electrical load in the U.S. by over 1%, saving 3,000,000 barrels of oil each month. After the crisis was over, the U.S. reverted to six months of DST, from May through October. This period was extended in 1986 to include April. Proposals for Single/Double Summer Time, late 1980s-present: Harmonization with Europe's time was proposed by having summer time in the winter and double summer time in the summer, sometimes called Single/Double Summer Time. Favored by many businesses and others, studies showed it would reduce road deaths and injuries. Scottish MPs led opposition, and no bill ever passed Uniformity in Europe, 1996:After many years of non-uniformity of DST policy in Europe, especially between the Continent and the U.K., the European Union including the U.K. adopted a summer time period from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October. Extension in the U. S., 2005, 2007: As part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the U. S. DST period was extended by about one month, commencing 2007. October 29, 2006 will be the last time that the U.S. and U.K. both move their clocks on the same date. After that, the U.S. will commence DST two or three weeks before the U.K. and end one week later. Parliamentary Bills, 2005-2007: In 2005, Lord Simon Tanlaw introduced in the House of Lords the Lighter Evenings (Experiment) Bill, which would advance time an additional hour in summer and winter (giving summer time in the winter and double summer time in the summer) for a trial period of three years. The bill applied to England, with the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly in Wales, and the Northern Ireland Assembly given the power to "opt-in" to the change with respect to their areas. The Bill was passed by the House of Lords in May 2006, but did not reach a vote in the House of Commons. Later in 2006, Tim Yeo MP drew second place in the Private Members Bill ballot, and introduced a similar bill, the Energy Saving (Daylight) Bill. Second Reading on the bill was on January 26, 2007, but the Government allowed opponents to talk the the Bill out, so that it ran out of Parliamentary time. Numerous Other Effects:Daylight saving time has affected an immense breadth of people, places, policies, and activities. For a deeper glimpse into daylight saving time's wide reaching impacts. Current Observance of Daylight Saving TimeWorldwide: William Willett would be happy to know that daylight saving time is now employed in about seventy countries around the world, including almost every major industrialized nation. It affects well over a billion people each year. In several other countries, there is current debate about adopting DST. Sunrises, sunsets, and day lengths of countries near the equator do not vary much during the year, but even in such countries DST is sometimes utilized, especially for energy conservation.
From the book
(Granta Books, ISBN 1-86207-796-7 and 1-86207-878-5) Related Links |
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