Did you “spring forward” yesterday? Or have you been an hour late for everything today? For your sake, and for those around you, I hope for the prior.
Yes, Sunday marked another Daylight Saving Time, when most of us move our clocks forward an hour and attempt to adjust our circadian rhythms to deal with this insanity.
If you took part in CITYVIEW’s trivia contest this month, you likely know some of the answers (or at least the questions) that I share this morning that deal with our apparent need to move the big hand on the clock.
You may wonder when this madness began in the United States, and why. Daylight Saving Time was first implemented in the United States in 1918 as part of an effort to conserve energy. Yes, we were even trying to conserve energy then. But the U.S. was not the first country to officially adopt a system of Daylight Saving Time. That, in fact, was Germany.
In my second paragraph, I stated that “most of us move our clocks forward an hour.” Residents of Hawaii and Arizona do not. Rumor has it the citizens of those states sleep much better. Interestingly, prior to 2006, Indiana allowed each of its counties to determine whether to observe Daylight Saving Time. How would that go over in Iowa today?
During the early 1960s, the transportation industry found the lack of consistent time standards confusing and pushed for federal regulation. Their wish was granted in 1966, when the Uniform Time Act was passed and standardized when clocks would be advanced one hour in the spring. George W. Bush signed the act that extended Daylight Saving Time during his presidency. So blame it on Bush.
Who first envisioned this crazy idea? Well, although Al Gore may want to be known for conceiving the idea of Daylight Saving Time, Benjamin Franklin is the person who deserves the credit. Yes, somewhere between inventing bifocal eyeglasses, the lightning rod and the urinary catheter, good old Ben found time to mess with time.
Well, there you go. I gave you a head start on this month’s trivia. Give it a whirl and see how you do, or simply share these “little known facts” in your next Cliff Clavin moment.
Have a marvelous Monday, and thanks for reading.
Shane Goodman
President and Publisher
Big Green Umbrella Media
shane@dmcityview.com
515-953-4822, ext. 305 | 
