Next Sunday at 2:00am, we “loose” an hour by setting our clocks forward. Those living in Hawaii or Arizona are fortunate enough that they aren’t bothered by this twice a year minor annoyance. Like trying to remember how to reset that overly complicated clock you got for Christmas 10 years ago.
Have you ever wondered why we set the clocks forward in the first place?
Daylight saving time (DST) is the practice of setting clocks forward by one hour during the warmer months of the year, so that evenings have more daylight and mornings have less. This adjustment is typically made in the spring and reversed in the fall. The history of daylight saving time dates back to the early 20th century and has been influenced by various factors, including energy conservation, agriculture, and war.
The concept of daylight saving time is often credited to Benjamin Franklin, who proposed the idea in a satirical essay in 1784 as a way to conserve candles. However, it wasn’t until World War I that daylight saving time was first implemented on a large scale. In an effort to conserve fuel during the war, several countries, including Germany and the United Kingdom, adopted daylight saving time as a way to reduce the need for artificial lighting.
After the war, many countries abandoned daylight saving time, only to reinstate it during World War II for similar reasons. In the decades following World War II, the practice of daylight saving time became more widespread, with many countries adopting it as a way to save energy and make better use of daylight hours.
Today, daylight saving time is used in many countries around the world, although the start and end dates vary. In the United States, daylight saving time begins on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November. The practice continues to be a subject of debate, with proponents arguing that it saves energy and improves safety, while critics argue that it disrupts sleep patterns and has little impact on energy consumption.
Overall, the history of daylight saving time is a complex and multifaceted one, shaped by a variety of social, economic, and political factors. While its implementation and impact continue to be debated, daylight saving time remains a widely used practice in many parts of the world.
Comment below if you like the practice of daylight savings time, or you would rather we join Hawaii and Arizona and leave it alone.