Daylight Saving Time Myths and Facts - a Blog Post by sexyldy1000

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10/31/2020 11:04 am

Daylight Saving Time Myths and Facts

Don’t forget t.o turn your clocks back at two a.m. tomorrow morning.

If Daylight Saving Time is observed in your area, here are some common myths about it that you may not be aware of:

Myth: It’s Called “Daylight Savings Time”
The Real Story: In North America and Australia, the convention of setting our clocks ahead one hour in the spring and behind one hour in the fall is properly known as “Daylight Saving Time.” For whatever reason, people have developed a habit of referring to it conversationally as “Savings Time,” plural. Britons refer to DST as “Summer Time,” while in Italy, the practice is called “Ora Legale.”

Myth: Benjamin Franklin Invented Daylight Saving Time
The Real Story: Thanks to An Economical Project, a satirical essay Franklin wrote in 84 urging Parisians adopt an earlier sleeping schedule, Franklin is often credited with “inventing” daylight saving time. Actually, that honour belongs William Willett, a British builder. While an early morning horseback ride the outskirts of London in 1905, Willett theorized that if the United Kingdom moved its clocks forward by 80 minutes between April and October, Britons would be able to enjoy more sunlight. Willett spent much of his own personal fortune trying to persuade the British Parliament to embrace the idea, but he died in 19 without seeing his dream come fruition.

Myth: Germans Were the First T.0 Embrace Daylight Saving Time
The Real Story: Germany adopted daylight saving time (DST) in 19 conserve energy during World War I. However, certain regions of Canada were already following DST as early as 1908. On July 1 of that year, residents of Port Arthur in Ontario—what is now Thunder Bay—were the first in the world t.o turn their clocks forward by one hour. The German Empire may have popularized daylight saving time, but Canadians beat them t.o the punch.

Myth: Daylight Saving Time is Observed Everywhere
The Real Story: Countries along or below the equator, don’t implement time shifts since daylight hours rarely change from season to season. Much of Asia and Africa opt-out of DST as well, as does Iceland and parts of Australia. Even though Antarctica has no daylight in the winter and 24-hour daylight in the summer, research crews living in the area observe DST t.o communicate with their home bases.

Myth: Daylight Saving Time Makes Us Healthy
The Real Story: More sunlight may mean more vitamin D, but numerous studies have also linked daylight saving time to a rise in road accidents and health problems. A 2008 Swedish study in the New England Journal of Medicine —based on information collected over a 20-year period—found a higher incidence of heart attacks in the first weekdays after clocks move forward and fall back. Changes in circadian rhythm, too, can trigger cluster headaches and lead to days or weeks of discomfort.

Myth: Daylight Saving Time Helps Farmers
The Real Story: When the United States passed the Uniform Time Act in 1966, it gave rise to the myth that the extra daylight would give farmers more time to harvest their produce in the morning. In reality, it has the opposite effect, and farmers tend to have been the loudest critics of DST over the past several decades.

Do you have trouble adjusting to the time change? Is there a difference when losing an hour vs gaining an hour?