Residents of most of the U.S. will set the clock forward by one hour before heading to bed tonight. Daylight saving time officially begins at 2 a.m. Sunday local time.
The change allows a gain of an extra hour of sunlight in the evenings.
George Vernon Hudson proposed the modern idea of daylight saving in 1895. Germany and Austria-Hungary organized the first implementation, starting on 30 April 1916. The United States first implemented DST in 1918 but it was very unpopular and the law requiring it was repealed a few years later. Franklin Roosevelt instituted “War Time” during World War II and some states kept the change.
On January 4, 1974, President Nixon signed into law the Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act of 1973.
The time change isn’t observed by Hawaii, most of Arizona, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Marianas.
Daylight saving time ends Nov. 1.
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Online:
National Institute of Standards and Technology: http://www.nist.gov/pml/div688/dst.cfm