Germany’s 1916 clock order brought daylight saving into national policy as governments sought to limit fuel consumption, beginning a century of changes to how the United States sets seasonal time.
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) identifies Germany as the first country to adopt the practice during World War I, with fuel conservation as its purpose. The National Archives catalog identifies an April 8, 1916, U.S. Embassy dispatch, Despatch 2870, as a record concerning Germany’s clock order.
The United States adopted daylight saving in 1918 under the Standard Time Act. The policy was short-lived: in August 1919, Congress overrode President Woodrow Wilson’s veto of a repeal, leaving states the option to continue the clock changes, according to the CRS timeline.
The federal government later returned to the practice during World War II, when the country kept daylight saving time year-round. The Uniform Time Act of 1966 standardized seasonal clock changes nationwide, initially setting them from April through October. The National Institute of Standards and Technology says federal dates now run from March to November.
A later energy crisis prompted another year-round experiment. Public Law 93-182, enacted Dec. 15, 1973, set year-round daylight saving to begin Jan. 6, 1974. Congress amended the law in October 1974, requiring a return to standard time from Oct. 27, 1974, through Feb. 23, 1975, when daylight saving resumed; the trial period ended Apr. 27, 1975, according to the law and CRS timeline.
Proposals to shift clocks predated the wartime policy. The Franklin Institute describes Benjamin Franklin’s 1784 essay on early rising as satire. New Zealand entomologist George Vernon Hudson proposed a clock shift in 1895 to allow more daylight for collecting insects after work, according to the Library of Congress and Hudson’s later account. British builder William Willett advocated advancing clocks in spring in a 1907 pamphlet, according to Royal Museums Greenwich.
