Translation of time: history and modernity

Time is one of the most important components determining a person's life, regardless of his social origin, nationality and political views. At the same time, the changing duration of a daylight day enables people to artificially prolong or shorten the light period, translating time into summer time. However, with regard to the need for this process, a lot of discussions have arisen recently.

It should be noted that for the first time the translation of time was recommended by the famous American public figure and scholar B. Franklin when he worked as a US envoy to France. In his humorous work, using simple practical calculations, he proved that by moving the clock one hour forward in mid-March, Parisians will be able to save half the candles they use for a year.

The article of the famous American was then treated with a certain skepticism, and the problem with the translation of the clock hands returned only a century later. The first one was touched by the entomologist from New Zealand J. Hudson, who justified the necessity of moving the arrows in the spring for 2 hours ahead, which will give additional opportunities for full-fledged labor. This proposal by Hudson was formalized in the form of a scientific article and published in 1898 in the New Zealand popular scientific journal, which marked the beginning of many years of discussion.

In Europe, the translation of time as an urgent need was first touched upon by W. Willett, whom many consider "the inventor of summer time". In his article "On Spreading Daylight," published in 1907 in England, he first theoretically substantiated the need for such a translation, and then proposed every Sunday in April to shift the hands of the clock 20 minutes ahead, and in September - to restore everything to its original state. The English themselves were not in a hurry to take advantage of Willet's proposal, and Germany, the first European country to translate into daylight saving time, decided to draw significant benefits in the light of the First World War that had begun. However, the Entente countries hastened to keep up with the enterprising Germans, beginning to make changes to the work of their watches in 1917.

In subsequent years, both in Europe and in the USA, the translation of time was seriously criticized, so most countries returned to the pre-war version. However, with each new economic crisis, the leadership of the leading world powers again returned to the opportunity to adjust the indicators of the dials twice a year, quite reasonably believing that in this way it will be possible to save on sharply increased energy prices. For example, in the same Germany, the translation of time began in 1940, in connection with the outbreak of World War II. And also in 1973, in connection with the beginning of a serious oil crisis.

Translation of the time in Russia into the summer time was first introduced in 1917 by a special decree of the Provisional Government, but with the Bolsheviks coming to power in November of the same year, this procedure was abolished.

The next important event was the introduction in 1930 of the so-called "decree time": 1 hour was added this year to the public time, but no summer state was introduced. In April 1981, the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted a decree, which again introduced the transfer of arrows in the spring and autumn. But the "maternity time" while no one was not going to cancel, so the total difference in Russia in the summer in relation to its lap times was already 2 hours.

To rectify this situation was to be the decree of the President of the Russian Federation D. Medvedev, according to which the correction of the hours in April 2011 for the summer state was to be the last. However, having done this, the Russians received a discrepancy with the local time in the same 2 hours. In many respects precisely because of this, and also because the duration of the day of light decreased drastically during the winter, discussions about the expediency of the transfer of arrows in spring and autumn resumed with new force.