History of Daylight Saving Time: Why do we Spring Forward?

It seems like only yesterday that we discussed the end of Daylight Saving Time, or DST, a brilliant campaign to convince people that we’re getting more daylight each day when in reality, we’ve simply changed our clocks and then forgotten about it within two weeks. Actually, it was only back in November, or four months ago.

Recent Changes in Daylight Saving Time

Indeed, the new rules for DST that began in 2007 meant an extra four or five weeks of DST each year. There are now a total of 238 days of DST, compared to a total of 210 days of DST back in 2006 under the previous rules. This means the U. S. remains on DST for about 65% of the year. So if you think about it, DST will be in effect for most of the year, Standard time is no longer the standard. It might be more significant to recognize Daylight Losing Time.

Starting Daylight Saving Time

DST begins each year at 2:00 a.m. on the second Sunday in March in most of the United States and its territories. However, some places have not bought into this campaign. It is not observed in Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, nor in the state of Arizona — except for the Navajo Indian Reservation — which does observe DST.