March is finally here, and after a long, snowy winter, its arrival is a welcome sight for sore eyes. Crocuses emerge through melting snow, birds are returning, and warmer days beckon. But with spring also comes a familiar ritual that you may (or may not) be as excited about: setting our clocks forward for daylight saving time. Every March, we trade an hour of sleep for an hour of daylight, and although many of us are quite certain, and often vocal, about our feelings regarding the time change, we may not be aware of how we came to collectively experience a mild case of jet lag each spring.
The history of daylight-saving time is an interesting one. I have often heard people say that it started because of farming practices—a fitting idea in agricultural communities like Suffield. However, the reality is quite the opposite. In fact, the agricultural industry rallied against the implementation of daylight-saving time in 1918 because it disrupted their schedules. Their efforts paid off, and the short-lived national daylight-saving time was repealed in 1919.
However, the practice didn’t completely go away. Some states and cities continued to adjust their clocks after the 1919 repeal, resulting in a confusing patchwork of practices. It wasn’t until World War II that daylight saving time was reintroduced on a national level. Again, the practice was short-lived as it was repealed just weeks after the war ended, ushering in the return of the time chaos. Would you believe that in 1965, the state of Iowa had 23 different sets of start and end dates—a truly confusing situation!
Fortunately, the enactment of the Uniform Time Act of 1966 standardized daylight-saving time, bringing a sense of cohesiveness and order to our nation’s time observances.
Since then, the exact dates have changed to meet changing needs and laws. Notably, date changes occurred during the energy crisis of the 1970s, again during the mid-1980s, and after the Energy Policy Act of 2005. In 2007, the dates changed to start on the second Sunday of March and end on the first Sunday in November. This is still the practice today, except in most of Arizona and Hawaii, which remain on standard time year-round.
The extra hour of daylight in the evenings is a perfect opportunity to visit the library. We’d love for you to join us for one of our upcoming spring programs or stop by to pick out a good book. You can find all our programs on our website at https://suffield-library.libcal.com/. We look forward to welcoming you soon!
Sources:
https://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/daylight_time
https://agamerica.com/blog/myth-vs-fact-daylight-saving-time-farming/
https://www.history.com/articles/8-things-you-may-not-know-about-daylight-saving-time