Daylight Saving Time, (DST) time is observed when clocks and other timepieces are set ahead so that the sun will rise and set later in the day as measured by civil time. The amount of daylight on a given day of the year at a given latitude is fixed, but over the year the hours of sunrise and sunset vary from day to day. During the summer months, the sun rises earlier and sets later and there are more hours of daylight. If clocks and other timepieces are set ahead in the spring by some amount (usually one hour), the sun will rise and set later in the day as measured by those clocks. This provides more usable hours of daylight for activities that occur in the afternoon and evening, such as outdoor recreation. Daylight saving time can also be a means of conserving electrical and other forms of energy. In the fall, as the period of daylight grows shorter, clocks are set back to correspond to standard time.
Benjamin Franklin, when serving as U.S. minister to France, wrote an article recommending earlier opening and closing of shops to save the cost of lighting. In England, William Willett in 1907 began to urge the adoption of daylight saving time. During World War I the plan was adopted in England, Germany, France, and many other countries. In the United States, Robert Garland of Pittsburgh was a leading influence in securing the introduction and passage of a law (signed by President Wilson on Mar. 31, 1918) establishing daylight saving time in the United States. After World War I the law was repealed (1919). In World War II, however, national daylight saving time was reestablished by law on a year-round basis. National year-round daylight saving time was adopted as a fuel-saving measure during the energy crisis of the winter of 1973–74. In late 1974, standard time was reinstituted for the winter period. In 1987 federal legislation fixed the period of daylight saving time in the United States as the first Sunday (previously the last Sunday) in April to the last Sunday in October. Arizona, Hawaii, and sections of Indiana do not use daylight saving time.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright 2005, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
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Daylight Saving Time
A trip around the world reveals that time isn't a synchronized science
At 2 a.m. on the second sunday in March (previously first Sunday of April until 2006), groggy Americans will turn their clocks ahead one hour, marking the beginning of Daylight Saving Time (DST). But for others around the world (and in Indiana) things aren't that easy.
The federal law that established "daylight time" in this country does not require any area to observe daylight saving time. But if a state chooses to observe DST, it must follow the starting and ending dates set by the law which since 1986 have been the first Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October until 2006. Starting with 2006, the dates are set to be the Second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November.
No More Sunlight in Arizona and Hawaii
Arizona and Hawaii and the territories of Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands and American Samoa are the only places in the U.S. that do not observe DST but instead stay on "standard time" all year long. And if you've spent any time in the sweltering summer sun in those regions you can understand why residents don't need another hour of sunlight.
U.S. DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME SCHEDULE | | 2004 | April 4 | October 31 | | 2005 | April 3 | October 30 | | 2006 | April 2 | October 29 | | 2007 | Mar 11 | November 4 | | 2008 | Mar 9 | November 2 | | 2009 | Mar 8 | November 1 | | 2010 | Mar 14 | November 7 | | 2011 | Mar 13 | November 6 |
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Indiana's Unique Timekeeping
And then there is Indiana. You can get yourself in quite a mess when you ask "What time is it?" in parts of Indiana.
The Hoosier State's unique system for observing daylight time is rooted in its once farming-dominated economy. Farmers prefer early daylight to dry their fields and and an early sunset to end their work at a reasonable hour. But some residents think the reason Indiana is missing out on the high-tech boom is that companies are turned off by all the confusion.
The Hoosier State's unique system for observing daylight time is rooted in its once farming-dominated economy.
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Under the current system, 77 of the state's 92 counties are in the Eastern Time Zone but do not change to daylight time in April. Instead they remain on standard time all year. That is, except for two counties near Cincinnati, Ohio, and Louisville, Ky., which do use daylight time.
But the counties in the northwest corner of the state (near Chicago) and the southwestern tip (near Evansville) are in the Central Time Zone and use both standard and daylight time.
Hoosier Daylight Coalition
So don't let someone tell you that Indiana switches time zones in the summer. It's just that most of the state doesn't move its clocks ahead in April, which allows the Central Time Zone to "catch up" to it—most of it.
The Hoosier Daylight Coalition, a group made up of business leaders, parents, teachers and police, is trying to organize legislation that would simplify things in Indiana. Its hope is that a change will bring new business to the area. But since polls show that half of Indiana residents like things the way they are, it won't be an easy sell.
Comparisons Around the World
More than one billion people in about 70 countries around the world observe DST in some form. Here are interesting facts about some of these countries:
- Most of Canada uses Daylight Saving Time. Some exceptions include the majority of Saskatchewan and parts of northeastern British Columbia.
- It wasn't until 1996 that our NAFTA neighbors in Mexico adopted DST. Now all three Mexican time zones are on the same schedule as the United States.
- Also in 1996, members of the European Union agreed to observe a "summer-time period" from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October.
- In the winter months, Russia, which spans over 11 time zones, is always one hour ahead of standard time. In the summer, Russians turn their clocks ahead one more hour.
- Most countries near the equator don't deviate from standard time.
- In the Southern Hemisphere, where summer arrives in what we in the Northern Hemisphere consider the winter months, DST is observed from late October to late March.
- Three large regions in Australia do not participate in DST. Western Australia, the Northern Territory, and Queensland stay on standard time all year. The remaining south-central and southeastern sections of the continent (which is where Sydney and Melbourne are found) make the switch. This results in both vertical and horizontal time zones Down Under during the summer months
- China, which spans five time zones, is always eight hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time and it does not observe DST.
- In Japan, DST was implemented after World War II by the U.S. occupation. In 1952 it was abandoned because of strong opposition by Japanese farmers.