Life Back Then: Springing Forward into Our Biannual Jet Lag

In the early morning hours of Sunday, March 8, while most of us are tucked warmly into bed, time will spring forward into Daylight Saving Time (DST), and with it, our excitement can bloom like a crocus in the snow as we “spring forward,” shifting an hour of sunlight from morning to evening.

Not everyone has greeted the time change so cheerfully. In April 1967, the Saline Reporter declared, “More controversial than LSD, DST has raised tempers on both sides of the issue,” a line that suggested turning the clock ahead an hour ranked above psychedelic drug use in the public imagination. The article referred to the Uniform Time Act of 1966, which took effect in 1967 and federally standardized when DST would begin and end. Before that, states and even localities set their own schedules, creating confusion for travelers and businesses.

The idea itself goes back much further. Benjamin Franklin floated the concept in 1784 in his essay “An Economical Project.” It wasn’t implemented until World War I, when Germany and Austria advanced their clocks in 1916 to conserve electricity. The United States followed in 1918 with “An Act to Preserve Daylight and Provide Standard Time for the United States.” The measure proved unpopular in a largely agricultural society and was repealed in 1919.

During World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt instituted year-round DST, calling it “War Time.” After the war, from 1945 to 1966, the nation returned to a patchwork system, with states free to observe, or ignore, DST as they pleased. This understandably confused migrating masses and businesses, given the schedules involved, such as broadcasting and transportation.

The debate flared again during the 1973 energy crisis. President Nixon signed the Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act, temporarily putting the nation on year-round DST beginning in January 1974. Americans soon discovered they liked bright evenings, but not pitch-black winter mornings. In northern states, sunrise didn’t come until 8:00 or 9:00 a.m., leaving schoolchildren waiting for buses in darkness. After several highly publicized accidents and mounting public opposition, Congress restored standard time for the winter in late 1974. The experiment officially ended in 1975.

Today, DST remains both routine and controversial. Some advocate eliminating it entirely, which would mean staying on Eastern Standard Time year-round. In June, Michiganders would see sunrise around 5:00 a.m. and sunset around 8:00 p.m., a trade few in the Great Lakes State seem eager to make.

Setting aside the practical arguments, Daylight Saving Time has become closely associated with the transition from winter to spring. Although many people report short-term fatigue after the time change, the extended evening daylight marks a noticeable seasonal shift and signals the approach of longer, brighter days.

Fun Fact: When clocks “fall back,” time can play tricks on more than just our sleep schedules. CBS News reported that on November 6, 2016, twins Samuel and Ronan Peterson were born in the early morning hours just as Daylight Saving Time ended. Samuel arrived first at 1:39 a.m. EST. Then at 2:00 a.m., the clock reset to 1:00 a.m. When his brother Ronan was born at 2:10 a.m. (new time), his official birth time was recorded as 1:10 a.m., making the second-born twin technically older on the clock than his big brother.