Spring forward, Fall back

On this day in 1918 the US Congress established time zones across America and approved the introduction of Daylight Saving Time (DST) whereby the clocks get moved an hour forward in Spring and an hour backwards in Autumn/Fall.The idea was first proposed by Benjamin Franklin as long ago as 1784, but it wasn't seriously explored until the early 20th century. 

William Willett - great-great-grandfather of Coldplay's Chris Martin (which inspired the song Clocks) - was a builder and keen horse rider from Petts Wood in Kent. In 1907 he circulated a pamphlet entitled The Waste of Daylight to Members of Parliament, town councils, businesses and other organisations, in which he stated that the nation’s health and happiness could be improved by longer exposure to the Sun. He proposed Daylight Saving Time, whereby the clocks would be moved forward twenty minutes on each of four Sundays in April. Then, the same would happen - but in reverse - on Sundays in September. The idea was initially ridiculed but the onset of the First World War brought the idea out of limbo. 

In May 1916, Daylight Saving Time was introduced as a way of saving money on lighting. Within a week, almost every other country was doing it too. But, sadly, William never saw his idea put into effect as he died in 1915. These days, his idea has become known as British Summer Time (BST) with the clocks turned forward an hour on the last Sunday in March, and turned back an hour to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) on the last Sunday in October. This year, BST will start on the 26th March at 1am in the UK ... which will then be 2am. 

It's done on the weekend and in the middle of the night to reduce disruption to schools, traffic flow, public transport and businesses. And it always happens close to the Spring Equinox (which, this year, is tomorrow March 20th) when day and night are around equal length. 

There are many who suggest that this practice could and should now be scrapped and that we stay on BST permanently. Over 100 years have passed since Willett's idea was implemented and society has changed significantly in the interim. The amount of daylight makes little difference to our lives - our homes, shops and offices, and streets are all artificially lit whatever the time of day. Meanwhile, farmers have expressed concern about the effect of changing routines for livestock. 

So should we abandon the practice? In the USA the clocks go forward on the second Sunday in March and back on the first Sunday in November, but it's not universal. Arizona and Hawaii don't use DST at all, for example. In March 2022 a bill known as the Sunshine Protection Act was passed in the US Senate. This new piece of legislation proposes making DST permanent, and that from November 2023 there should be no more seasonal clock changes. However, despite being passed by the Senate, the bill still needs to be taken up by the House of Representatives and then signed into law by the US president. 

So, watch this space. 

And will we follow suit I wonder?