Kids & Family

Daylight Saving Time Begins Sunday, March 11

Spring forward, or you'll be left behind. Remember to turn your clock forward on Sunday or you'll be late for work Monday morning.

At 2 a.m. on the morning of Sunday, March 11, we'll be springing our clocks forward (and losing an hour of the day) for daylight saving time.

Sunset will be an hour later, however.

We used to "spring forward" on the first Sunday in April, but a couple years ago, Congress changed the date—adding more daylight saving time to the calendar.

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Instead of April to October, it now runs from March 11 to Nov. 4.

Around the world, about 75 countries and territories have at least one location that observes daylight saving time, according to TimeandDate.com. On the other hand, 164 don't observe the time change at all.

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Neither do Arizona, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. 

Brief History

According to the Huffington Post

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.

Do you always forget to change your clocks? Patch will remind you.

Not a fan of daylight saving time? Tell fellow Patchers why not in the comments.


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