The practice of Daylight Saving Time (DST)

It will soon be time to ‘spring’ ahead – “set your clocks ahead one hour to make better use of natural daylight.” So how about a short course on the why and when surrounding the annual practice of Daylight Saving Time (DST).

According to The Old Farmer’s 2021 Almanac:

• The Germans were the first to officially adopt the light-extending system - in 1915 - as a fuel-saving measure during World War I. The British switched one year later, and the United States followed in 1918 when Congress passed the Standard Time Act, which established our time zones.
• In 1920, the law was repealed due to opposition from dairy farmers. (Cows don’t pay attention to clocks!) During World War II, DST was imposed once again, to save fuel, and since then has been used on and off, and with different start and end dates.
• Currently, DST begins at 2:00 A.M. on the second Sunday of March, and ends at 2:00 A.M. on the first Sunday in November. (March 14 and November 7, 2021)

And as you can imagine, there are exceptions. Hawaii, Puerto Rico, most of Arizona, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa and the Northern Marianna Islands do not switch to Daylight Saving Time. (Good to know for travel purposes.)

Information source: The Old Farmer’s 2021 Almanac