Spring Forward 2016 [VIDEO]
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your going to loose an hour of sleep tonight. However the good news is, we get to enjoy more sunshine and longer days until November 6.
Okay, so who started this crap? Good ol' Benjamin Franklin. According to USA Today, Franklin published a journal titled "An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light" way back in a 1784. The inspiration was him noticing people burning candles through the night into the day and sleeping past noon. So basically he concluded that people were using light, when they didn't need it. He would never live to see how his findings would pan out.
Here in the U.S. daylight savings began during World War I as a way to conserve fuel. It proved to be pretty useful, so much so that President Lyndon Johnson signed the Uniform Time Act into law in 1966. Today not all the states participate in daylight saving time. Those states include: Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands. Some cities in Arizona, don't either.
So who actually makes the decision on when daylight saving time is observed for the states that do participate? Believe it or not, the U.S. Department of Transportation. Apparently they think switching back and forth to daylight saving time helps us reduce energy and in doing so saves lives by preventing traffic accidents and decreasing crime.
However, not everyone buys the whole saving energy theory. USA Today reports a bit of research has gone into this and what was found is daylight saving uses 1% less energy for lighting but 2 to 3% more for heating and air-conditioning. So there you have it!
If you don't wanna be late, turn your clocks one hour forward at 2 a.m. Sunday morning or just before you go to bed Saturday night. Happy daylight!