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It’s almost spring 2025, and that means the clocks had to move forward eventually. Americans woke up on March 9 feeling drowsy upon losing an hour of sleep. The only consolation, of course, is that we can all have a little more daylight now that we’re transitioning out of winter. As the subject of daylight savings circulates, many are asking why we still observe the “fall back, spring forward” tradition, and how it started in the first place.
Below, learn the history behind daylight savings and how it started.
Why Invented Daylight Savings Time?
It’s actually unclear who really invented daylight savings. Many say that it was Benjamin Franklin because he wrote an essay for the Journal de Paris in 1784 about the concept of time. There is even a scene in the film National Treasure when the characters briefly mention Franklin while discussing daylight savings time.
However, The Franklin Institute contested this claim and “place[d] the blame” of daylight savings “on a New Zealand entomologist, George Hudson, who wanted more daylight in the evenings and presented the idea in 1895.”
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Why Daylight Savings Time Started
The history of daylight savings time has been contested. The general answer for why it started was to use the available daylight in the summer in order for darkness to arrive later.
When Did Daylight Savings Time Begin?
Per CBS News, clocks began to practice the “fall back” method in 1916 after Germany became the first nation to observe daylight savings time to save fuel. Other countries soon followed the lead, with the U.S. starting the practice in 1918.
What Other Countries Use Daylight Savings Time?
Only about one third of the world’s countries observe daylights savings time. Most of Europe and North America practice the tradition.
Will Trump Cancel Daylight Savings Time?
Donald Trump has vowed that he and Republicans will put an end to daylight savings time. According to a Truth Social post he wrote in late 2024, Trump wrote, “The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate Daylight Saving Time, which has a small but strong constituency, but shouldn’t! Daylight Saving Time is inconvenient, and very costly to our Nation.”
