Submitted by Suanne Z. Thamm
Reporter – News Analyst
October 31, 2020
Before you go to bed this Halloween Saturday night, remember to “fall back” by setting your clocks back one hour.
This is the time of year we try desperately to reset all our digital clocks, appliances and toys to reflect the return to Standard Time. How did this practice begin, you ask? Well, below is the story.
From The Old Farmers Almanac:
Credit for Daylight Saving Time belongs to Benjamin Franklin, who first suggested the idea in 1784. The idea was revived in 1907, when William Willett, an Englishman, proposed a similar system in the pamphlet The Waste of Daylight.
The Germans were the first to officially adopt the light-extending system in 1915 as a fuel-saving measure during World War I. The British switched one year later, and the United States followed in 1918, when Congress passed the Standard Time Act, which established our time zones. This experiment lasted only until 1920, when the law was repealed due to opposition from dairy farmers (cows don’t pay attention to clocks).
During World War II, Daylight Saving Time was imposed once again (this time year-round) to save fuel. Since then, Daylight Saving Time has been used on and off, with different start and end dates. Currently, Daylight Saving Time begins at 2:00 A.M. on the second Sunday of March and ends at 2:00 A.M. on the first Sunday in November.