Daylight Savings Time (DST) 2015

Written By:  Andrew Eide

There is a saying here in the United States, where we practice Daylight Savings Time, of Spring Forward and Fall Back, designating the starting of Daylight Savings Time in the Spring and returning, or falling back, to Standard Time in the Fall.

When I was a kid, growing up in Oakland in the 1950’s, there was no such thing as Daylight Savings Time. Well there was but what I am talking about is that there was no observed Daylight Savings Time when I was a kid. I remember playing outside until past 9 p.m. when there was still daylight out.

I researched Daylight Savings Time through the United States Naval Observatory website at:  (http://aa.usno.navy.mil). This is the official website used when I served in the United States Navy to obtain official Sunrise and Sunset data anywhere in the world we were located. The United States Naval Observatory gives the following history of Daylight Savings time in the United States:

The Act of March 19, 1918, called the Standard Time Act, established by law standard time zones in the United States. The Act also established Daylight Savings Time. However, Daylight Savings Time was repealed in 1919 while the Standard Time in Time Zones remained in law. Daylight Savings Time was re-established nationally early during World War II and it was continuously observed from February 9, 1942 until September 30, 1945. The Uniform Time Act of 1966 provided standardization in the dates of the beginning and end of Daylight Savings Time in the United States but it still allowed for local exemptions from observance. This Act provided that Daylight Savings Time begin on the last Sunday in April and end on the last Sunday in October and the time changed over at 2 a.m. local time.

In 1974 Congress enacted earlier starting dates for Daylight Savings Time. Daylight Saving Time began on January 6, 1974 and then in 1975 it began on February 23. After those two years the starting date reverted to the last Sunday in April. In 1986, a law was passed shifting the starting date of Daylight Savings Time to the first Sunday in April 1987. The ending date for Daylight Savings Time was not subject to those changes and it remained the last Sunday in October. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 changed both the starting and ending dates for Daylight Savings Time. The Act of 2005 changed the dates in 2007 to begin Daylight Savings Time on the second Sunday in March and end on the first Sunday in November.

Now you see why I feel Daylight Savings Time is a waste of time. The kids of my day survived without Daylight Savings Time in effect. By the way…remember to set your clocks back one hour on 2 a.m. on Sunday, November 1, 2015.