This weekend begins the end of daylight savings time (DST), to the dismay of many, according to National Geographic. Daylight savings time ends on November 3 at 2:15 a.m. when everyone has to set their clocks back one hour.
The end of daylight savings time brings with it an extra hour of sleep this weekend, but it also means an earlier sunset, and the feeling of shorter days as darkness sets in as early as 5 p.m.
Some states, such as Arizona and Hawaii, as well as U.S. territories including Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands don't change their clocks this weekend, allowing them to use the same time standard the rest of the country uses throughout the rest of the year.
Other countries that also refrain from using DST include Russia and Japan. The latter country hasn't used it in over 60 years.
Why do we still use daylight savings time? Benjamin Franklin is known to be the first person to suggest DST as a concept, according to David Prerau, the author of "Seize the Daylight: The Curious and Contentious Story of Daylight Savings Time."
When Franklin was serving as the U.S. ambassador to France, he wrote of being woken up at 6 a.m. to realize that the sun had risen earlier than usual.
"Franklin seriously realized it would be beneficial to make better use of daylight, but he didn't really know how to implement it," Prerau said.
During World War I, DST was implemented on a larger scale in Germany, with other countries following soon after. The U.S. implemented the practice in 1918 for the states that observe it. The purpose was to save energy.
In 2005, the energy Policy Act was enacted, which pushed DST back a month on either side, beginning in 2007.
Recent studies have also shown that DST doesn't actually save energy, and may, in fact, actually result in a net loss. There are, however, opposing studies that show the opposite.
"I think the first day of daylight savings time is really like the first day of spring for a lot of people," Prerau said. "It's the first time that they have some time after work to make use of the springtime weather."
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
