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  • Daylight Saving Time: Everyone Hates It at Least Once a Year

    Daylight Saving Time (DST) was probably a good idea when it started. But a lot of people now argue that it has outlived its usefulness, a relic of an age of wartime concerns and weak power plants.

    But before we dig into that, a brief grammar police diversion:

    The term is “daylight saving time,” not “daylight savingS time”. Some even render it as “daylight-saving time,” which hints at the purpose of the practice. Of course, the English language being the living thing that it is, some dictionaries are starting to list the “savingS” spelling. It is certainly in common use. Perhaps the only way to get rid of it is to get rid of DST itself.

    Which brings us back to our point.

    The original purpose of DST varies depending on where it was adopted. Germany and Austria-Hungary first used it in 1916 to conserve coal during World War I. Various countries have adopted it and dropped it again and again when they reasoned that it was necessary to help their energy consumption needs. The energy crisis of the 1970s saw several countries dust it off again.

    In general, most people seem to hate it. Farmers particularly wish it gone. When DST kicks in each year, the “spring forward” stage, it elicits groans from anyone with an alarm clock. When it ends, the “fall back” side, it never quite seems to even things out.

    Whether DST has health benefits or drawbacks depends on who you ask. The L.A. Times says it’s bad for you. They quote Yvonne Harrison, a sleep specialist at Liverpool John Moores University:

    “The start of daylight saving time in the spring is thought to lead to the relatively inconsequential loss of one hour of sleep on the night of the transition, but data suggest … a cumulative effect of sleep loss, at least across the following week, perhaps longer.”

    The state of Arizona is exempt from it entirely due to heat issues. An editorial in the Arizona Republic back in 1968 observed:

    “Drive-in theaters, the parents of small children, the bars, the farmers and those who do business with California were against Daylight Saving time while power companies, the evening golfers, the late risers, and the people with business interests on the Eastern seaboard were for it.”

    Daylight Saving Time ends this year on Sunday, November 2, at 2:00 a.m. That means you set your clocks back one hour when you go to bed Saturday night, November 1.

  • Daylight Savings Time: What Is It Really?

    Most of us know daylight savings time as the time when you have to set your clocks forward and lose an hour of sleep. Many of us wander around the day afterwards, wondering what time it really is and wishing we would have went to bed an hour earlier. While we all try to remember when it is, most of us don’t really know what it is or why we do it. Here is a little explanation of the practice.

    Daylight savings time was first established by Benjamin Franklin in 1784. In order to save on candles and get the most out of natural lights, Franklin proposed that everyone move their clocks forward to allow for the longer days in the summer and shorter ones in the evening.

    In 1966 the Uniform Time Act was established and daylight savings time or DST became uniform. It was also decided that DST would start at in April and end at the end of October. While the uniformity of the practice made it less complicated and many people feel that DST is a good idea, there are many others who find it a pain and originally tried to avoid it. It was decided that states could opt out of DST as long as the entire state went along with it.

    Currently, every state in the United States practices DST, except for Hawaii and Arizona. Other countries have refused to participate in it, including Russia and some Muslim countries.

    Regardless of whether you think DST is a handy practice or an annoying one, it will make the days seem longer and allow you to get more done in the daylight hours. Unfortunately, if you forget to set your clock forward Saturday night, you might find yourself running late on Sunday. Remember to go to bed an hour early so you don’t lose that precious 60 minutes of sleep.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Daylight Saving Time Fall Forward Whose Idea was It?

    Daylight saving time ends on this upcoming Sunday November 3rd at 2 a.m. It only takes a few seconds to set personal clocks back to anticipate the time change. Many people loath when the time changes due to the problems it causes during the following work week. There is always that one person in the office or within a personal circle of friends who will be late to work or an upcoming social event because the simply forgot to adjust their time.

    Throughout history, several civilizations have recorded adjustments in their schedule to be in tune with the sun during the day. Benjamin Franklin while traveling in Paris decided to expound upon the idea of getting more time during the day. He wrote an essay entitled, “An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light” that discussed saving on candle use by getting up earlier and using the sunlight. Some people credit Franklin with the discovery and others lean towards a New Zealand astronomer and entomologist named George Vernon Hudson. He wrote a paper about moving time forward two hours in October and back two hours in March. This paper was submitted to the Wellington Philosophical Society, even though he did more research and another article nothing was ever enacted upon.

    William Willetts idea of moving time forward during the summer by twenty minutes in April on Sunday, and reversing the time in September was seen as important by Robert Pierce. Pierce persuaded the House of Commons through a new bill that was not approved or turned into a statute before his death. Daylight saving time was used heavily during both WWI and WWII to save on costs for fuel and lighting. A great deal of confusion lasted throughout the years for service industries that operated on tight schedules. Trains and media outlets were not able to follow the time changes well. Modern daylight savings time was made into law through the Uniform Time Act of 1966.

    This gave uniformity to the times changed, but states still have the opportunity to not participate. People who live in Arizona do not have to worry about setting their clocks back, due to it not being used within the state.

     


    Image via Thinkstockphoto