Daylight Saving Time Was Originally Part of America’s All-Out World War Efforts

We've all heard the common refrain of the overworked, "If only we had more time..." or "I need a few more hours in the day..." This was the mindset of the United States government during World War I.

But where we individual Americans would adjust ourselves to the time we have, the government's solution was different: It decided to move time around.

The U.S. believed that springing forward one hour would give more time for work while saving on energy costs. Of course, the U.S. can't just move time. We have to pass a law first, and on March 19, 1918, in the middle of World War I, the Standard Time Act was signed by President Woodrow Wilson. Time was just one more commodity used in the war effort.

The act not only moved time, but established America's five time zones. It was in effect for a year and a half before Congress repealed the law in 1919. Then, like clockwork, another world war was on the horizon.

Just two months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States was at war once again. Congress reestablished the Standard Time Act, literally calling it "War Time," with time zones Eastern War Time, Pacific War Time, etc., all of which sound way more cool than "daylight saving time." Like its predecessor, war time ground to a halt when World War II ended.

For the next two decades, time in America was on Total Chaos Time (that is not the official term, but it's still true). There were no standards for daylight saving, so the actual time could vary by state and even by county. These nonstandard times wreaked havoc on transportation schedules and on radio and television broadcasts.

It took 20 years, but Congress finally decided to act, passing the Uniform Time Act in 1966. Despite fighting the Vietnam War at the time, the U.S. wasn't technically on a war footing, but standardizing daylight saving time across the country solved a lot of issues. States could choose whether or not to observe DST.

The original law began springing forward ​​on the last Sunday in April and falling back on the last Sunday in October. It has changed in some ways since 1966. President George W. Bush made the most recent changes in 2005 (again, still not technically at war, but fighting nonetheless), starting daylight saving time on the second Sunday in March and ending on the first Sunday in November.

-- Blake Stilwell can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com. He can also be found on Twitter @blakestilwell or on LinkedIn.

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