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5 Facts About Daylight Saving Time

Daylight Saving Time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday – don't forget to turn your clocks back an hour Saturday night!

It's time to fall back.

That's right, Daylight Saving Time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday, and residents are reminded to turn all their clocks back one hour.

But did you know that for a task that's such an accepted part of all Americans' lives, there's actually a lot more to it? Check out these five facts about Daylight Saving Time:

  1. Most of the world does not take part in this practice. Much of South America, Asia and Australia do not participate in Daylight Saving Time anymore, while a large part of Africa never recognized it. Some U.S. states, including Arizona, don't even participate in DST.
  2. Benjamin Franklin is the unofficial "father" of Daylight Saving Time. In the late 1700s, he jokingly proposed that Parisians wake up earlier in the summer to save on candle use and instead utilize daylight. Unbeknownst to Franklin, this would later be morphed into DST.
  3. Some experts suggest that Daylight Saving Time is harmful to children's sleep routines. A Washington Post parenting blog suggests tips for making the switch easier on kids.
  4. In some parts of Europe, DST is commonly referred to as "Summer Time." In Britain, it's known as "British Summer Time," while in Germany, it's "sommerzeit."
  5. Daylight Saving Time begins again on March 10, 2013.

What will you do with your extra hour this weekend? Tell us in the comments!

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Alex contreras November 3, 2012 at 05:34 pm
Its the one thing I miss about AZ. They may be a crazy backward state but they are enlightened about ignoring this crazy ritual.
JudithReich November 3, 2012 at 05:34 pm
Sleep!
allan smith November 3, 2012 at 05:38 pm
i will get that extra hours sleep.
Rita Robins November 3, 2012 at 05:41 pm
More or less the same things.It does not seem to effect me one way or another
Ili nice November 3, 2012 at 05:50 pm
I will enjoy and welcome this ectra hour of sleep
Narisha Foxx November 3, 2012 at 05:51 pm
It's just another one of those irritating rituals they I would rather pass on. Maybe someone can tell me why all public schools in the state of Florida are dismissed one hour early every Wed, I mean even when I asked long-term Fl. Residents they had no definitive answer. It drove me crazy.
lauretta doyle November 3, 2012 at 06:03 pm
I will get up an hoir early and campaign for my presidential choice. The readon public school kids get out an hour early is so thst their teachers can take part in professional
development opportunities. Making them better teachers....
Doña Pamela November 3, 2012 at 06:14 pm
DST is one of the most ridiculous things we do. If it must be done, at least let's spring forward in June and fall back in early September and avoid the difficult transitions at school. All the hollow talk of "better education" and "it's all about the children" is a bunch of stuff and nonsense...said the elementary school teacher.
Gerard Schiller November 3, 2012 at 06:15 pm
It seems to me it is backwards. In Autumn when it naturally gets dark earlier we lose another precious hour of daylight. In Summer when it already stays light till far into the night we get an extra uneeded hour. It is light till 9:30 /10:00 pm! It should be placed into the history books where it belongs. Didn't anyone realize Ben Franklin was only kidding?
Spencer Tally November 3, 2012 at 06:15 pm
More time to drink in the bars... that's why its done at two a.m.
Ailene McGraw November 3, 2012 at 06:16 pm
Indiana started DST when Gov Daniels "enlightened" us with DST. He should have let us vote on it! It would have never taken place. MOST Hoosiers hate it, including me.
Rita November 3, 2012 at 06:20 pm
Sleep happily!!!
John David November 3, 2012 at 07:02 pm
When I was in high school in the late 1960s and early 1970s, I listened to radio broadcasts of my local baseball team, the Washington Senators. During those years every time they played Detroit, the announcers had to remind fans when the game would start, since Michigan, although in the eastern time zone, stayed on EST, while DC was on DST. Seemed crazy to me until I moved to Michigan after the state resumed observing DST and I found it would stay light here in the summer after 10 p.m.
Joyce Ronquillo November 3, 2012 at 07:06 pm
Uhh, you don't get an extra hour this weekend; you lose the one gained in the spring. That's why we FALL back.
Eric November 3, 2012 at 07:20 pm
Joyce, you get to relive the 1am to 2am time slot. At 2am on Sunday, the time changes to 1am. So you do get an extra hour.
maleah marshall November 3, 2012 at 08:33 pm
What does God think of this? Another man made event!!!
John David November 3, 2012 at 11:40 pm
Yep, who needs clocks and standardized time?
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Just a short thought to get the word out quickly about anything in your neighborhood.
Share something with your neighbors. Write a new post... What's up? Make an announcement, speak your mind, or sell something
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