Clocks roll back an hour this Sunday — to the chagrin of many Americans. For more than 100 years, proponents and opponents of daylight saving time have argued over whether to keep observing the twice-yearly changing of the clocks, but many don't know how or why the U.S. started the custom in the first place. The origins of daylight saving time have been attributed to various people and reasons.
Germany became the first country to observe daylight saving time to conserve fuel, according to the Congressional Research Service. The U.S. Embassy in Berlin sent a dispatch on April 8 to Washington, D.C., to let them know about the clock change initiative made two days prior. The text said an 'order directing a change in the clocks to 'add' an hour of daylight to the day during the months of May through September' had been made.