Unless you happen to glance at the clock on your oven first before any other clock, Sunday morning will just seem like a bit sleepier and maybe later than usual. Daylight Saving Time is pretty much non-news now, with phones and computers automatically correcting the time. I mostly look at the time down in the lower right hand corner on the news station I watch in the morning and that will have changed. In slightly related news, last night, I had a dream that I bought a wifi-enabled coffee maker. Even knowing at the time, my dream self thought it was a little too far, but I could start the coffee maker from an app on my phone. Providing I had done on the required prep work the night before, of course.
Daylight Saving 2012: Start Date, History And Fun Facts.
Welcome spring weather with the start of Daylight Saving Time.
At 2 a.m. on, Sunday, March 11, 2012, most U.S. residents will set their clocks ahead one hour for the beginning of Daylight Saving Time.
However, not all states will observe the time change. Residents of Arizona, Hawaii and U.S. territories Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands will remain on their normal schedules.
About 75 countries and territories have at least one location that observes Daylight Saving Time, according to TimeandDate.com. Conversely, 164 don’t observe the time change at all.
Daylight Saving Time gives way to longer days, but some won’t be too delighted to lose an hour of sleep. In fact, some scientists suggest the ‘spring-forward” time change disrupts sleep and could pose health risks, such as heart attacks.
Brief History:
Benjamin Franklin has been credited with the idea of Daylight Saving Time, but Britain and Germany began using the concept in World War I to conserve energy, the Washington Post observes. The U.S. used Daylight Saving Time for a brief time during the war, but it didn’t become widely accepted in the States until after the second World War.
In 1966, the Uniform Time Act outlined that clocks should be set forward on the last Sunday in April and set back the last Sunday in October.
That law was amended in 1986 to start daylight saving time on the first Sunday in April, though the new system wasn’t implemented until 1987. The end date was not changed, however, and remained the last Sunday in October until 2006
Today, Daylight Saving Time begins on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November. The time change will precede the first day of spring and the vernal equinox, which is set to take place at 1:14 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, March 20.
Not a fan of Daylight Saving Time? Don’t worry: You can resume your normal schedule on Nov. 4.
Related articles
- Daylight Saving Time: When To Set Your Clocks Ahead (huffingtonpost.com)
- Siri thinks Daylight Saving Time starts 4 days early (tuaw.com)
- Fab Finding Follow-Up: Daylight Saving Celebration (fabsugar.com)
- Lawmaker wants the sun to set on daylight saving time ()
- Spring Ahead & Fall Back App Pinpoints Daylight Saving Time Around the World (prweb.com)
