Standard Time Act Explained

Shorttitle:Standard Time Act
Longtitle:An Act to save daylight and to provide standard time for the United States.
Nickname:Calder Act
Standard Time Act of 1918
Enacted By:65th
Effective Date:March 19, 1918
Cite Public Law:65-106
Sections Created: §§ 261–264 [1]
Introducedin:Senate
Introducedby:William M. Calder (R-NY)
Passedbody1:House
Passeddate1:March 15, 1918
Passedvote1:253-40
Signedpresident:Woodrow Wilson
Signeddate:March 19, 1918

The Standard Time Act of 1918, also known as the Calder Act, was the first United States federal law implementing Standard time and Daylight saving time in the United States.[2] It defined five time zones for the continental United States and authorized the Interstate Commerce Commission to define the limits of each time zone.

The section concerning daylight saving time was repealed by the act titled An Act For the repeal of the daylight-saving law,, over President Woodrow Wilson's veto.

As a result of an 1966 amendment of Section 261 to add more time zones, the wording in Section 264 of the act wrongly placed most of the state of Idaho (south of the Salmon River) in CST (Central Standard Time), but was amended in 2007 by Congress to MST (Mountain Standard Time).[3] MST was observed prior to the correction.

See also

Notes and References

  1. The Uniform Time Act of 1966.
  2. Book: Prerau, David. Seize the Daylight: The Curious and Contentious Story of Daylight Saving Time. 90. 2006. Thunder's Mouth Press . 978-1-56025-796-7.
  3. Book: Congressional Record, V. 153, PT. 4, February 17, 2007 to March 12, 2007. U S Congress. 2010. BERNAN Press. 9780160869761. 5309. May 14, 2015.