Why Do We Have Daylight Savings Time?

We have Daylight Savings Time for the very reason its name suggests, to save daylight.

When Daylight Savings begins in the spring, we turn the clock back an hour, so that “clock time” is one hour later than “sun time.” Instead of the sun’s setting at 7:30 or so, it goes down at 8:30, giving people an extra hour of daylight after they finish work or school.

Of course, this also means that the sun will rise an hour later. In farming areas, where work must begin very early in the morning, Daylight Savings Time is often not observed.

Daylight Savings was first adopted in Germany, in 1915, and began in the United States three years later.

The abbreviation for Daylight Savings Time is D. T , as opposed to S. T. for “Standard Time.” So during the summer, the time on the East Coast is E.D.T. for “Eastern Daylight Time.”

The first person to suggest the use of Daylight Savings was Benjamin Franklin!