Re: reminiscing about Boston radio

[Garrett Wollman <wollman>]

<<On Mon, 5 May 1997 00:54:11 -0400 (EDT), "'A. Joseph Ross'" <lawyer@world.std.com> said:

> No, Daylight Savings Time always ended on the last Sunday in
> October.  

Not always, and certainly not everywhere.  I don't have good
documentation of the history in Massachusetts, but here's how it
worked in New York City:

# Rule  NAME    FROM    TO      TYPE    IN      ON      AT      SAVE    LETTER
Rule    NYC     1920    only    -       Mar     lastSun 2:00    1:00    D
Rule    NYC     1920    only    -       Oct     lastSun 2:00    0       S
Rule    NYC     1921    1966    -       Apr     lastSun 2:00    1:00    D
Rule    NYC     1921    1954    -       Sep     lastSun 2:00    0       S
Rule    NYC     1955    1966    -       Oct     lastSun 2:00    0       S

So from 1921 to 1954, summer time ended on the last Sunday in
September (a date more justified by astronomy than the current one).
The rules for the US as a whole since that time are:

Rule    US      1967    max     -       Oct     lastSun 2:00    0       S
Rule    US      1967    1973    -       Apr     lastSun 2:00    1:00    D
Rule    US      1974    only    -       Jan     6       2:00    1:00    D
Rule    US      1975    only    -       Feb     23      2:00    1:00    D
Rule    US      1976    1986    -       Apr     lastSun 2:00    1:00    D
Rule    US      1987    max     -       Apr     Sun>=1  2:00    1:00    D

Of course, before 1967, each state was free to set its own timezone
policy.  After 1967, states were permitted to opt in or out, but were
required to use the Federal dates.  Some states passed this
responsibility to yet lower levels, such that Indiana decided on a
county-by-county basis.  I have a much better idea of which states
have opted out or have changed policies since 1970, since that's the
critical date for my database.

Hawaii does not observe summer time (it makes no sense there).  The
Uniform Time Act amendments of 1983 moved Hawaii into an even-hour
timezone (it had previously been -10:30).
Arizona mostly does not observe summer time, but the Navajo Nation
does.  (``K-T-N-N.... Indian Country!'')
Alaska did not observe summer time from 1969 to 1983, but does now.
Southern Idaho and eastern Oregon switched late in 1974.

My database says for Indiana:

# From Paul Eggert (1995-12-19):
# Indiana generally observes either EST all year, or CST/CDT,
# but areas near Cincinnati and Louisville use those cities' timekeeping
# and in 1969 and 1970 the whole state observed daylight time;
# and there are other exceptions as noted below.
# Shanks partitions Indiana into 345 regions, each with its own time history,
# and writes ``Even newspaper reports present contradictory information.''
# Fortunately, most of the complexity occurred before our cutoff date of 1970.
#
# Since 1970, EST-only Indiana has been like America/Indianapolis,
# with exceptions noted below for Crawford, Starke, and Switzerland counties.
# The parts of Indiana not listed below have been like America/Chicago,
# America/Louisville, or America/New_York.

Part of Kentucky did not observe summer time in 1974.

# Most of Michigan observed DST from 1973 on, but was a bit late in 1975.
# The Michigan border with Wisconsin switched from EST to CST/CDT in 1973.

I'm certain that was more than you wanted to know....  If it's any
consolation, the situation is a lot more complex in the rest of the
world.

- -GAWollman

- --
Garrett A. Wollman   | O Siem / We are all family / O Siem / We're all the same
wollman@lcs.mit.edu  | O Siem / The fires of freedom 
Opinions not those of| Dance in the burning flame
MIT, LCS, CRS, or NSA|                     - Susan Aglukark and Chad Irschick

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