Daylight Saving Time: A History of Fact, Folklore and Fuss

From wartime strategy to Halloween lobbying lore, DST's legacy is tangled in culture, commerce and contested claims.As most of Europe prepares to set clocks forward an hour on March 29, millions will brace for the biannual ritual of Daylight Saving Time (DST).

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DST is mostly observed in temperate regions, where the contrast between long summer days and short winter ones makes shifting time seem useful.

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For newcomers to these parts of the world, DST could be bewildering at first. If you miss a meeting or arrive too early at a do, you may be gently reminded with the mnemonic: "Spring forward, fall back" — denoting clocks being moved forward one hour in spring, and back one hour in autumn.

In the northern hemisphere, this typically happens in March and October respectively, while southern hemisphere countries like Australia, New Zealand and Chile observe it in reverse, with time springing forward in September or October and falling back in April.

It's all relative

Globally only about a third of countries observe DST. Most of Africa, Asia and the tropical regions skip it entirely. And even within DST-practicing countries, participation can be patchy.

For instance in the US, the states of Hawaii and Arizona, which get plenty of sunshine year round, do not observe DST.

The latter has the curious "Arizona Daylight Saving Donut": While the state of Arizona doesn't observe DST, the Navajo Nation situated in its northeast, does. But then, the Navajo Nation surrounds the Hopi Reservation, which doesn't — hence the "donut" that enables you to cross three time zones within this region.

Down south, not all Australian states follow DST, but it is observed nationwide in New Zealand.

Why waste daylight?

In fact, a New Zealander is credited with having first mooted this idea. In 1895, George Vernon Hudson, a postal worker and amateur entomologist, proposed shifting clocks to allow more evening daylight for insect collecting.

He presented his case to the Wellington Philosophical Society, arguing that pushing back time by two hours in summer would make use of early morning daylight for work and offer "a long period of daylight leisure" in the evening "for cricket, gardening, cycling or any other outdoor pursuit desired."

His idea didn't catch on immediately, but it did lay the groundwork for future time tinkering.

Ten years later, British builder William Willett conceived the idea of DST during a morning horseback ride in 1905. Though his idea — encapsulated in a pamphlet titled "The Waste of Daylight" — was backed by the likes of Winston Churchill and "Sherlock Holmes" creator Arthur Conan Doyle, parliament repeatedly rejected his proposal. Willett campaigned for the change until his death from influenza in 1915.

Yet, a year later, Britain would join France and the US in adopting DST, after Germany became the first country to officially implement it to conserve coal during World War I.

Fun present-day fact: Willet's great-great grandson, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, penned a hit titled "Clocks" in 2002.

Folklore that lives on

Over its history, DST has also attracted myths like moths to a porch light.

One enduring myth misattributes Benjamin Franklin as having invented DST based on his satirical 1784 essay "An Economical Project." Living in France then, he'd recounted being surprised that the sun rises so early and argued that using natural instead of artificial lighting like candles could save Parisians a fortune. In his piece, he proposed absurd regulations — like taxing window shutters, limiting candle use and firing cannon at sunrise to rouse the public.

Another myth is that DST helps farmers. While it seems logical — more daylight equals more time in the fields — farmers have long opposed DST. Livestock don't adjust to human clocks, and shifting schedules disrupt routines.

What's DST got to do with Halloween?

One of DST's quirkiest tales involves the American candy industry. In "Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time" (2009) author Michael Downing claimed lobbyists placed candy pumpkins on US American senators' seats to encourage the extension of DST past Halloween, which falls annually on October 31.

More daylight meant longer trick-or-treating — and therefore surges in candy sales.

Candy industry reps denied the active lobbying, yet the timing was curious: In 2005, Congress passed the Energy Policy Act, extending DST to the first Sunday in November starting in 2007. Mere coincidence or astute timing? The truth, like candy, remains sticky.

It's just another 'Sleepy Monday'

But DST doesn't just tamper with time — it disrupts bodies, behavior, maybe even our browsing patterns.

A 2012 study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology observed a spike in "cyberloafing" — personal web browsing at work — on the Monday after clocks spring forward, as sleep-deprived employees struggle to focus on their actual work.

The drowsiness can even be dangerous: A 2020 study published in Current Biology found that fatal car crashes in the US increase by 6% in the week following the spring time change.

Turning back the clock, again

Given the non-uniformity of DST implementation, it is unsurprising that it has also been the subject of political debate.

In the US, the Sunshine Protection Act to make DST permanent passed the Senate in 2022, but stalled in the House of Representatives.

Never one to shy away from popular debates, President Trump weighed in on Truth Social in April 2025, urging the House and Senate to "push hard for more Daylight at the end of a day," and describing the changing of the clocks as a "VERY COSTLY EVENT."

Public opinion is also shifting: 64% of Americans said in a YouGov survey in February 2026 that they would prefer time changes to be completely eliminated, with more preferring permanent Daylight Saving Time, with its later sunrises and sunsets.

The European Union has also long debated abolishing DST, but for now its residents will likely bemoan the loss of an hour of sleep come March 29. And rejoice and hit the snooze button when October 25 comes round.

Edited by: Elizabeth Grenier

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 27, 2026 07:10 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).