Looking for a little more daylight in the morning? You’re about to get your wish. This weekend we set our clocks back one hour as Daylight Saving Time comes to an end at 2am, Sunday Nov. 5th.
Why do we do all this falling back and springing ahead to observe Daylight Saving Time? Benjamin Franklin is the known to have written about the idea to cut down on the use of candles and to help people get out of bed earlier. But, the first official use of DST took place in what is now Thunder Bay, Canada in 1908. The practice began to catch on globally in 1916 when Germany adopted the practice. Today about 40% of the countries in the world follow Daylight Saving Time, though dates of the changes do vary by country.
When the practice was introduced a century ago, it was established to save energy by making more use of natural light on summer evenings. In today’s modern society that uses computers, TVs, and air conditioning, energy savings from DST have for the most part disappeared. It does still have some advantages however. More daylight in the evenings means more people are out shopping, eating, and attending events that boost the economy. There is also a safety feature to having more daylight at night as fewer road accidents and robberies take place when we make the switch to DST.
So, here’s your friendly reminder. Before you turn your light out Saturday night, set your clock back one hour.