The time has come again to “fall back,” with daylight saving time ending Sunday, Nov. 2, at 2 a.m.
That means we’ll all be turning our clocks back by one hour, gaining a bit of extra sleep.
How did daylight saving time come to be?
Daylight saving time is an idea that many trace back to Benjamin Franklin, who jokingly suggested that Parisians might save some money on candles if they woke up earlier, rather than sleeping until noon.
But others say the modern idea of it sprang from George Hudson, an entomologist from New Zealand who, in 1895, conceptualized a two-hour time shift to give him more time to hunt bugs. British builder William Willett would later propose moving clocks forward in mid-spring through summer to have more daylight hours for outdoor activities.
Germany became the first country to institute it, putting it into practice in 1916 during World War I to help save on fuel and power and lengthen the workday. The trend spread across Europe.
The United States adopted it on March 19, 1918, when the Standard Time Act was signed into law, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory’s Astronomical Applications Department. Besides instituting the time change, it also set up the five time zones across the country. But the U.S., like many countries, discontinued the practice at the end of World War I.
It came back during World War II, with President Franklin D. Roosevelt introducing it as a system called “War Time” which ran from 1942 until 1945.
After that, the choice to continue the daylight saving time practice became more localized, until it was standardized in 1966 with the Uniform Time Act, though states had the right to opt out. Hawaii and most of Arizona took that option.
Modern-day daylight saving time
Modern-day daylight saving time typically starts on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November. Clocks get moved ahead one hour in the spring, then rolled back an hour in the fall.
Using the time change as a safety reminder
The city of Naperville recommends using the daylight saving time change as a reminder for some important safety tasks:
- Replace batteries in smoke and carbon monoxide alarms
- Replace any CO alarm unit older than 5 years, and any smoke alarm older than 10 years
- Check video surveillance systems to ensure they are clean, secure, and showing clear views
- Prepare a winter emergency kit for your car, including things like a blanket, flashlight, batteries, warm clothes, non-perishable food, water, flares, jumper cables, something for traction like sand or cat litter, a shovel, reflective hazard triangle, gloves, and a hat
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