The concept of DST was first suggested in a satirical essay by Benjamin Franklin, though his idea had nothing to do with clocks. Instead Franklin advised people to wake up with the Sun to save on candle costs. But in 1907 an Englishman, William Willett, campaigned for setting the clock ahead by 80 minutes—in four moves of 20 minutes each during April, and the reverse in September—so the public could maximize daylight hours.

Several countries, including Australia, Great Britain, Germany and the United States, adopted summer DST during World War I to conserve fuel by reducing the need for artificial light. It was so effective that during World War II clocks were kept continuously advanced by an hour in some countries.

In the U.S., DST once began on the last Sunday in April and ended in October. In 1986 the start of DST was moved to the first Sunday in April instead. Then in 2007 DST changed again, as the start date was moved to the second Sunday in March and the end date to the first Sunday in November. But not everyone followed that lead. In most countries, DST starts on the last Sunday in March and ends on the last Sunday in October.