Clocks to spring forward Sunday

By Kathy Thomson

Just in time for spring sports and other warm weather outdoor activities, Daylight Saving Time (DST) returns this Sunday, March 8, at 2:00 a.m.

Most of the United States officially begins DST every year on the second Sunday in March, and changes back to standard time on the first Sunday in November.

Local residents are reminded to set their clocks forward one hour before they go to bed on Saturday night.

The phrase “spring forward, fall back” is often used to help people remember what direction to move their clocks when the time changes.

Basically, DST is explained as “moving” one hour of daylight from the early morning to the evening during the summer months, which is supposed to result in energy conservation by substituting natural sunlight for electrical lighting. 

Although research studies have shown that DST can actually increase total energy consumption in many subtropical countries including the U.S.A., DST has remained popular because it allows many to enjoy an extra hour of daylight at the end of their work day.

The concept of rising earlier in the day to economize on candles by using more sunlight was jokingly suggested by Benjamin Franklin in 1784, according to timeanddate.com. 

The credit for inventing modern DST is given to G.V. Hudson, when in 1895 the entomologist proposed a two-hour daylight saving shift, according to wikipedia.com.  

Thunder Bay in Ontario, Canada is the first recorded place to use DST, which it implemented in July of 1908.

Germany was the first country to use DST, when it turned its clocks ahead one hour on April 30, 1916, along with its World War I ally Austria-Hungary.  

Great Britain and most of its allies were the next proponent of the system.

The United States introduced “Fast Time” in 1918, under the Standard Time Act, which also created the U.S. time zones.

Locations in the United States that do not observe DST are Arizona (except some Indian Reservations), Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and American Samoa.

Current law allows states to opt out of DST but not to opt out of standard time, so although Florida, Washington, California, and Oregon have voted to stay on DST year round, they cannot do so unless Congress changes federal law.