Don’t forget to “spring forward” for DST this weekend
Posted By RichC on March 8, 2014
We’ve changed the Federal DST law quite a few time (surprised me) and I learned a few more things about Daylight Saving time this week … starting with that there isn’t an “s” on the end of “Saving” … duh!
Daylight Saving time, or its abbreviation "DST" was an idea first proposed by Benjamin Franklin in 1784.
Through his research overseas, he discovered that the United States may be able to cut back on the number of candles being used for light, simply by adjusting our clocks.
The idea of DST never went without controversy, because although many people liked it, many people did not!!
There were many attempts to create a uniform use of Daylight Saving Time here in the U.S., but it wasn’t until World War 1 that any real significant action was taken. During the final year of World War 1, DST became a federal law… but it was repealed right after the war and became optional.
The same thing happened during World War 2!!
After that, the whole thing was a mess of different states (and even different cities and towns) choosing to, or not to participate in Daylight Saving Time.
Finally in 1966 the Uniform Time Act was established wherein DST would begin at the end of April and end at the end of October. States could opt out of DST as long as the entire state went along with it.
In 1986 DST was changed to begin on the first Sunday in April, but in 2007 that was changed to the 2nd Sunday in March. The end of DST was also changed to the 1st Sunday in November.
Today Daylight Saving Time is observed by every state in the U.S except for Arizona and Hawaii.
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