As many have already noticed, it's fall and the days are getting shorter and cooler. It also means it's the time of year where many of us will change our clocks. This change is called Day Light Savings Time.
This event, Day Light Savings Time, actually happens twice a year, once in the Spring (the second Sunday in March), and once in the fall (the first Sunday in November). In the fall, we turn the clocks backward an hour, and In the Spring, we turn the clocks forward an hour. The sayings "fall back" and "spring forward" are popular, catchy phrases to help us remember which way to turn the clocks according to the seasons.
Day Light Savings Time, this fall, will occur on November 4th, 2012 at 2am. This change in the time will make the days seem shorter because the sunlight will diminish earlier at the end of the day. Most people have also noticed how much darker the mornings have been in October as well.
Originally, Day Light Savings Time had been suggested by Benjamin Franklin, but it never came to fruition. In 1907, however, William Willett of England also wrote a similar document regarding the idea preserving daylight, but Parliament did not implement time change in England until 1916.
In the United States, the country began adjusting clocks after World War I to save energy such as fuel for electric power. Day Light Savings had been repealed many times, before and after World War II for instance, but in 1966 The Uniform Time Act brought back Day Light Savings to the United States, but states, towns and cities were allowed to choose, by law, whether they wanted to to abide by it or not.
The actual implementation of Day Light Savings has always been a controversial subject. Not all countries take part in this tradition (such as Japan, China and India,) but about 70 countries around the globe do. The controversy with Day Light Savings Time is with having to change the clocks, enduring change in sleep patterns, and just dealing with a general change in schedule. Not everyone can transition as easily, so it can be a sore subject amongst many.
However, for those whose towns, cities and/or states do so, don't forget to set your clocks back an hour on November 4th at 2am.
