Spring Forward to Daylight Shifting Time

What? You've never heard of Daylight Shifting Time? Well read on!

We all love to bask in the added daylight brought on by the longer days of summer, but did you know that an innovative idea by none other that Benjamin Franklin himself managed to add MORE sunlight to summer's days?

If was Franklin who came up with the idea to move our clock dials ahead one hour in the spring, effectively shifting an hour of early morning sunlight to the end of the day when more people were awake to enjoy it, and thus making the day even longer. So in reality a more accurate name for what we call Daylight Saving Time would actually be Daylight Shifting Time.

It Hasn't Always Been This Way...

While Franklin may have come up with the idea, it took quite a while for it to catch on. It wasn't until WWI that the US passed a law standardizing time zones and establishing daylight saving time. After the war, the US went back to standard time.

In 1966, DST was legislated across the US and after a brief alteration during the energy crisis of '75, we've been on it ever since...well most of us have.

No Everyone Goes On DST...

There are a few places that choose not to take advantage of the added daylight afforded by DST. Hawaii, Arizona and some parts of Indiana do not observe daylight saving time...go figure! To further confuse the issue, despite having a large portion of it's population in Arizona, the Navajo Nation DOES use DST so, wow, I can't even keep up with it.

A Safety Reminder

The two times a year when we change our clocks is also a good time to check the batteries in your smoke detectors also. So take a few minutes tonight and change those batteries, swing your clock forward, and then go to bed!