US Events

Daylight Savings Time

Daylight savings time was adopted in the United States on March 19, 1918 by a Congressinal act. The United States was behind the Europeans in this event. Germany started daylight savings time on April 30, 1916 to replace artificial lighting so they could save fuel for the war effort. It was quickly followed by Britain and many other countries.  However, many countries reverted back to standard time post-World War I, and it wasn’t until the next World War that DST would make its return to many countries in order to save vital energy resources for the war.

First Woman in Congress

<--Rankin

Jeannette Rankin of Montana was the first woman to be elected to the United States House of Representatives on November 7, 1916. During Rankin's first term in Congress (1917–1919), many women throughout the country did not have the right to vote, though they did in her home state of Montana. The equivalent of US Congress in Britain is the Parliament. The first woman to be elected to Parliament was the Countess de Markievicz in December 1918. She was the first woman to be elected to the House of Commons, but she did not take her seat.
 <--Countess de Markievicz