Here’s a brief look back in time on this day, February 9th.
In 1942, the United States begins losing an hour of sleep in the fall and gains one in the spring as Daylight Savings Time gets instituted nationally by Congress. It was first implemented towards the end of World War I in 1918 as means to conserve fuel and resources for troops in Western Europe. States were then free to choose how to implement it following the war’s end that same year. It was practiced federally in 1942 before being repealed in 1945. Legislation was later reintroduced in 1966 during the Johnson Administration as the transportation industry pushes for the Uniform Time Act. To this day, bills repealing or changing the act are being discussed in Congress.
In 1950, Sen. Joseph McCarthy (R) out of Wisconsin delivers a speech on foreign policy to the Republican Women’s Club in West Virginia. During the speech, he presents a list compiling over 200 members of the State Department that were believed to be “known communists”. This would spark the second nationwide Red Scare known as “McCarthyism”, in which hundreds of accused communists in media, government, and film are brought to the Senate to testify. Hearings would continue over the following four years until Sen. McCarthy accused the U.S. military of harboring communists. In the end, none of the accused were ever found to practice communism. Sen. McCarthy would pass away from cirrhosis of the liver in 1957.
In 1964, the Ed Sullivan Show would welcome The Beatles to their first live TV music performance in front of around 73 million viewers. It would serve as an important chapter during the period known as Beatlemania. The appearance would launch their music to the top of the international charts for years to come.