As most of Europe prepares to set clocks forward an hour on March 29, millions will brace for the biannual ritual of daylight saving time (DST). DST is mostly observed in temperate regions, where the contrast between long summer days and short winter ones makes shifting time seem useful.
For newcomers it can be bewildering. If you miss a meeting or arrive too early you may be reminded with the mnemonic “Spring forward, fall back” — clocks move forward one hour in spring and back one hour in autumn. In the Northern Hemisphere this typically happens in March and October; in the Southern Hemisphere (Australia, New Zealand, Chile) the pattern is reversed, with clocks springing forward in September or October and falling back in April.
Globally only about a third of countries observe DST. Most of Africa, Asia and the tropics skip it entirely. Even within countries that use DST participation can be patchy. In the US, Hawaii and most of Arizona do not observe DST. The Navajo Nation in northeast Arizona does observe DST, surrounding the Hopi Reservation, which does not — producing a regional “donut” where you can cross three time zones within a short drive. Not all Australian states follow DST, though it is observed nationwide in New Zealand.
The idea of shifting clocks for more evening daylight was first proposed by a New Zealander. In 1895 postal worker and amateur entomologist George Vernon Hudson suggested moving clocks to give more evening daylight for insect collecting. He told the Wellington Philosophical Society that shifting time in summer would free up evenings for leisure activities like cricket, gardening and cycling. His proposal did not take off immediately, but it laid groundwork for later campaigns.
A decade later British builder William Willett conceived a similar idea during a morning horseback ride in 1905 and published a pamphlet titled “The Waste of Daylight.” Backers included Winston Churchill and Arthur Conan Doyle, but Parliament repeatedly rejected the plan. Willett campaigned until his death from influenza in 1915. Germany became the first country to adopt DST officially during World War I to conserve coal, and within a year Britain, France and the US followed.
Over time DST accumulated myths. A common misconception credits Benjamin Franklin with inventing it; his 1784 satirical essay “An Economical Project” suggested saving on candles by rising with the sun, but he did not propose changing clocks. Another persistent myth is that DST benefits farmers. In fact many farmers oppose DST because livestock and agricultural schedules do not shift with human-imposed clock changes.
A quirkier tale links DST and Halloween. Michael Downing’s 2009 book Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time claimed candy-industry lobbyists placed candy pumpkins on US senators’ seats to encourage keeping DST past October 31, thereby extending trick-or-treating and boosting candy sales. Candy firms denied active lobbying, but in 2005 Congress passed the Energy Policy Act extending DST to the first Sunday in November starting in 2007 — the timing invited speculation.
DST also affects behavior and health. A 2012 study in the Journal of Applied Psychology found a spike in “cyberloafing” — personal web browsing at work — on the Monday after clocks spring forward, as sleep-deprived employees struggled to concentrate. A 2020 study in Current Biology reported a 6% increase in fatal car crashes in the US during the week after the spring time change.
Politically, DST has been contentious. In the US the Sunshine Protection Act to make DST permanent passed the Senate in 2022 but stalled in the House. In April 2025 former President Donald Trump urged Congress on Truth Social to “push hard for more Daylight at the end of a day,” calling clock changes a “VERY COSTLY EVENT!!!” Public opinion appears to be shifting: a YouGov survey in February 2026 found 64% of Americans would prefer eliminating time changes, with more favoring permanent DST (later sunrises and sunsets). The European Union has debated abolishing DST for years, but for now many residents will bemoan losing an hour of sleep on March 29 — and rejoice when clocks fall back on October 25.
Edited by: Elizabeth Grenier