Nov 2, 2007 11:09 pm US/Central
Good Question: Why Is There Daylight Saving Time?
Minneapolis (WCCO) ― It's something you'll hear a lot on Saturday: Don't forget to set your clocks back an hour.
Daylight-saving time comes to an end at 2 a.m. Sunday and we all know that means less light at night.
It does seem crazy -- springing forward only to set ourselves up for the fall back.
"It was originally suggested by Ben Franklin," said Dr. Terry Jones, an astronomy professor at the University of Minnesota.
Annoyed by an early sunrise in Paris, Franklin hatched the idea of pushing light later in the day.
"Most people like having light in the evening so they can come home from work and have day left," Jones said. "By World War I it was recognized you could save some energy by not having people turn their lights on in the evening."
But when the war ended cities and states were allowed to set their own clocks causing some timing issues. For example, Minneapolis was an hour behind St. Paul in 1965. So, the federal government set the clocks and the Uniform Time Act of 1966 officially created daylight-saving time in the summer and standard time in the fall and winter.
"It's no attempt to control nature," Jones said. "I think everybody understands the sun's only going to be up as long as it's going to be up no matter what."
But now, as we fall back, it is time to seize our one advantage: an extra hour of sleep.
Some have wondered why we don't have daylight-saving time all year long. Some farmers and school districts are opposed because of the lack of light in the morning. But if you like your light at night you're in luck.
The energy bill passed by Congress this year will extend daylight-saving time by four weeks beginning in 2007.
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