7 Bits About Daylight Saving Time

Twice a year, in the United States and many other parts of the world, we observe a ritual of changing the clocks on our walls, microwaves, and stoves, one hour backward or forward. Thankfully, our cell phones and computers figure out these shifts on their own.

Here are seven bits about Daylight Saving Time that will make you the smartest time shifter at the water cooler:

1. Although many of us call it Daylight Savings Time, the second word in the title is singular.
2. There are several reasons behind the Daylight Saving Time practice, with two of them being energy savings and a reduced number of traffic accidents.
3. European countries adopted Daylight Saving Time first in during World War I. The United States followed in 1918, but discontinued the practice a year later, because of its unpopularity. A few states persisted, though.
4. Nationwide Daylight Saving Time returned, year-round, between 1942 and 1945 and was called “War Time.”
5. In 1966, Congress passed the Uniform Time Act and formalized the practice of Daylight Saving Time. Individual states could exempt themselves, though, and so today, Hawaii and most of Arizona do not observe the practice.
6. In 1973, as a response to the Arab oil embargo, President Richard M. Nixon signed the Emergency Daylight Saving Time Conservation Act and put the country on Daylight Saving time for a straight 15 months beginning in January of 1974.
7. In 2005, Congress passed the Energy Policy Act, which added a total of four weeks of Daylight Saving time to each year, commencing in 2007. Today, we spring forward on the second Sunday in March (instead of the first Sunday in April), and we fall back on the first Sunday in November (instead of the last Sunday in October).

There you have it. Seven bits about Daylight Saving Time. Most of us dread the darker days of autumn, but we relish that extra hour of sleep on the first Sunday in November. Then, we welcome the longer days in springtime, but many of us find ourselves late to church on the second Sunday in March.

Thanks to Snopes for informing this article.

Ann Silverthorn writes about a wide variety of topics in numerous genres. She’s currently working on a biography of William E. Dimorier (1871-1951), a nearly forgotten poet and educator, who dedicated his life to the betterment of young people.

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