- Daylight-saving time begins Sunday at 2 a.m. when clocks are turned one hour ahead. It ends the first Sunday in November (Nov. 2 this year), partially so trick-or-treaters will have more light during Halloween.
- Thrift-loving Benjamin Franklin gets partial credit for the idea, but he didn't propose changing clocks or standardizing time. He simply suggested that people get up earlier with the light, largely so they'd burn fewer candles at night.
- The first proponent of changing clocks to wring more light from the day was William Willett, an early-rising Briton who called morning the best part of the day. Despite heavy lobbying and great personal expense, he died before his idea became law. It took effect a year later.
- The Germans took Willett's idea and created the first daylight saving in 1916 as part of wartime energy-saving efforts. The British followed two weeks later (after defeating it eight years in a row).
- DST was first tried in the U.S. in 1918 to save energy during World War I, but it was unpopular and was dormant nationally until it was used year-round during World War II. After the war, there was no federal law on DST until 1966, so states did as they pleased.
- In 1974, DST was extended for 10 months because of the energy crisis, then scaled back to eight months the following year.
- From 1987 to 2006, DST was a seven-month period. Last year, it was extended to eight months.
- Japan, India and China are the only major industrialized countries that don't observe daylight-saving time.
- In the U.S., Hawaii and Arizona (with the exception of the Navajo Nation) are the only states that don't follow DST.
Flowers out front - planted this afternoon...
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