History of Daylight Saving Time in the USA

While most of the country observes daylight saving time, Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the state of Arizona do not, with the exception of the Navajo Indian Reservation, where it does.

The tradition of changing clocks was officially established in the United States in 1918 and was introduced as “Fast Time.”

However, its use ended less than a year later, although cities such as Boston, New York, and Pittsburgh continued to use it.

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In 1942, the concept was reintroduced under President Franklin D. Roosevelt under the term “wartime” and was in effect until 1945.

Until the passage of the Uniform Time Act of 1966, America adopted a nationwide daylight saving timetable.

Daylight saving time rules were changed in 2007 for 20 years following passage of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 – “extending daylight saving time in the interest of reducing energy use,” according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

The rules extended daylight saving time by about a month, which now applies to 238 days, or about 65% of the year.

How popular is changing the clocks twice a year?

In a YouGov survey of 1,000 Americans in 2023, 62% of participants said they no longer want to change their clocks twice a year.

Half of participants said they would prefer daylight saving time year-round, while 31% preferred standard time.

Changing the clocks is quite unpopular.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, many states are trying to stop the time change.

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Last year, three bills were proposed to establish permanent standard time in Massachusetts, but none passed.

Earlier this year, Democratic U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, Democratic U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, announced their plan Sunshine Protection Actwhich would make daylight saving time permanent nationwide.

The bill was approved by the upper chamber last year but is now stuck in committee, The Washington Post reported.

“The outdated biannual ritual of switching between times is not just an inconvenience — it also has very real impacts on our economy, our energy use and our health,” Markey said in a statement.

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There is widespread support for eliminating the annual time change: nearly two-thirds of respondents (63%) to a 2021 Economist/YouGov poll said they would support eliminating daylight saving time.

Sleep experts, meanwhile, say Americans who are chronically sleep-deprived could use some extra sleep.

“There's a disconnect when we have to get up early to go to work or school, but it's still dark outside and we want to sleep,” said Beth Malow, professor of neurology and pediatrics and head of sleep at Vanderbilt University, told The Hill after the Senate vote in 2022.

This dawn's early light “actually aligns us so that our internal clocks are in tune with what's going on in our environment,” Malow told the Hill.