During World War II, Winston Churchill imposed "double British summer time" on the UK, adding an hour to the clock in winter and two in summer. His edict stayed in place for more than five years.
Erik Larsen describes the effects in The Splendid and the Vile:
"Winter mornings always were dark at this latitude, but a change in how Britain kept time during the war made the mornings darker than ever. The previous fall the government had invoked 'double British summer time' to save fuel and give people more time to get to their homes before the blackout began each day. The clocks had not been turned back in the fall, as per custom, and yet would still be turned forward again in the spring. This created two extra hours of usable daylight during the summer, rather than just one, but also ensured winter mornings would be long, black, and depressing, a condition that drew frequent complaints in civilian diaries."
Britain's Greatest Generation may have whined in their diaries, but they were no match for today's Americans, who I will dub the Whiniest Generation.
USA Today in fact reported last week that millions of us complain about the ill effects of the time-change.
It seems the time-change messes with us big time.
The paper cited one scientific study linking the time-change to heart attacks; another linking it to strokes; and a third linking it to cancer.
But it has no effect on Americans' ability to whine—incessantly.
No power on earth can stop that.
