Back in the day

1974- DST Begins

Year-round daylight savings time, an idea blamed on Benjamin Franklin, was scheduled to begin the next day in an effort to save energy during a fuel crisis.

Although Congress had mandated yearround daylight savings time, it lasted only 10 months in 1974 and eight months in 1975 before it was dropped because of opposition mostly from farming states. Franklin had proposed daylight savings time in a whimsical article in 1784 that no one took seriously until daylight savings time was invoked during World War I. It was tried again during World War II and has been an annual event in most states since 1966.