Daylight Saving is a way to make better use of the daylight. The idea is to advance the clock by one hour so that there is more sunlight in the evening and less in the morning. Daylight Saving Time is often abbreviated DST.
When is Daylight Saving Day?
There are two days where the clock is moved for Daylight Saving Time. One in the Spring to move the clocks forward and one in the Fall to move the clocks back.
In the United States Daylight Saving in the spring occurs on the second Sunday in March. In the fall it occurs on the first Sunday in November.
Here are some of the dates:
Spring (move the clock forward 1 hour at 2:00 AM)
March 11, 2012
March 10, 2013
March 9, 2014
March 8, 2015
March 13, 2016
March 12, 2017
March 11, 2018
Fall (move the clock backwards by 1 hour at 2:00 AM)
November 4, 2012
November 3, 2013
November 2, 2014
November 1, 2015
November 6, 2016
November 5, 2017
November 4, 2018
Who observes this day?
Many countries around the world observe Daylight Saving Time. The dates they adjust the clocks may vary depending on the country. Most countries in Europe observe Daylight Saving Time.
The United States observes Daylight Saving Time except for Arizona, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and American Somoa.
What do people do?
The main thing people do is to move the clock back one hour in the Fall (fall back) and forward one hour in the Spring (spring forward). The official time to do this is at 2:00 AM in the morning. Most people just change their clocks the night before or the next morning. Many computerized clocks will automatically make the changes for you.
History of Daylight Saving Day
Benjamin Franklin first suggested the idea of Daylight Saving Time. He got the idea while visiting France where people would get up earlier and go to bed earlier in order to save on candles. However, it was in 1895 when the first modern day version of DST was proposed by George Hudson in New Zealand. It was later proposed in England by William Willet. In both cases the idea was dismissed by the government.
In World War I, the first country to implement Daylight Saving Time was Germany. They implemented it to save on coal. Soon many other European countries followed. The United States adopted DST in 1918.
In 2007 the United States extended daylight saving time. This moved the start date three to four weeks earlier from the first Sunday in April to the second Sunday in March. It also moved the end date back one week from the last Sunday in October to the first Sunday in November.
Fun Facts About Daylight Saving Day
A great way to remember which way to move the clock is with the saying "Spring forward and Fall back". You move the clock forward in the Spring and backward in the Fall.
Some countries, such as Russia and Iceland, have moved to a "permanent" daylight saving time.
The Department of Transportation is responsible for the Time Zones in the United States.
One of the earlier arguments for DST was to save energy, especially on lights. With lighting being a fairly small percentage of electricity used today, many people say we no longer need DST.
Daylight Saving Time lasts 34 weeks each year in the United States.
Although Arizona does not observe DST, the Navajo Nation in northeast Arizona does.
