Origin of Daylight Saving Time
Despite everything from natural disasters to thrilling football games that happened over the weekend, the hottest topic in most American offices Monday morning will probably be how early it got dark last night because of the time change. In most parts of the country, Daylight Saving Time (no “s” at the end of “Saving”) came to an end. As for the origins of DST, many people like to credit the same guy who invented those bifocals you’re using to read this post right now.
The truth is that Benjamin Franklin did NOT propose Daylight Saving Time but rather spoke of similar scenarios in jest in a satirical essay he wrote when he was 78 called An Economical Project.1 Franklin jokingly suggested changing time schedules so he wouldn’t have to be woken up by daylight. The essay eventually led to some real discussions, so while Franklin may have inspired the idea, crediting him with “inventing” Daylight Saving Time is a stretch.
Officially, it’s hard to pin down who first proposed the idea. Some stick to Franklin, others attribute George Vernon Hudson from New Zealand, while many credit London builder William Willett. While Franklin is credited with many things over his lifetime, I’m giving the nod to Hudson. TimeAndDate.com offered up this perfect summary of the origin debate:
“Although many believe that Benjamin Franklin invented DST, some say that modern DST was first proposed in 1895 by George Vernon Hudson, an entomologist from New Zealand. Hudson presented a paper to the Wellington Philosophical Society that proposed a two-hour shift forward in October and a two-hour shift back in March. He followed up his proposal with an article in 1898, and although there was interest in the idea, it was never followed through.”2
Read on:
TimeAndDate.com – What is Daylight Saving Time?
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