Daylight Saving Time (DST) was an idea Benjamin Franklin mentioned in 1784. He suggested Parisians utilize sunlight in the day and save candle wax at night in a satirical essay. His proverb “Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise” can be associated with the idea of energy conservation. He never mentioned actually changing clocks to accomplish it!

Congress established time zones and the first U.S. DST dates on March 19, 1918. New dates were introduced in the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The new dates go into effect this year, extending DST by 4 weeks. The time changes used to be on the first Sunday in April and the last Sunday in October. Now they will occur on the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in November. To begin DST, “spring ahead” by resetting clocks one hour forward on Sunday, March 11th at 2:00 a.m. (to 3:00 a.m.) To end DST, “fall back” by resetting clocks one hour earlier on Sunday, November 4th, at 2:00 a.m. (to 1:00 a.m.)