Daylight saving time ends on this upcoming Sunday November 3rd at 2 a.m. It only takes a few seconds to set personal clocks back to anticipate the time change. Many people loath when the time changes due to the problems it causes during the following work week. There is always that one person in the office or within a personal circle of friends who will be late to work or an upcoming social event because the simply forgot to adjust their time.

Throughout history, several civilizations have recorded adjustments in their schedule to be in tune with the sun during the day. Benjamin Franklin while traveling in Paris decided to expound upon the idea of getting more time during the day. He wrote an essay entitled, “An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light” that discussed saving on candle use by getting up earlier and using the sunlight. Some people credit Franklin with the discovery and others lean towards a New Zealand astronomer and entomologist named George Vernon Hudson. He wrote a paper about moving time forward two hours in October and back two hours in March. This paper was submitted to the Wellington Philosophical Society, even though he did more research and another article nothing was ever enacted upon.

William Willetts idea of moving time forward during the summer by twenty minutes in April on Sunday, and reversing the time in September was seen as important by Robert Pierce. Pierce persuaded the House of Commons through a new bill that was not approved or turned into a statute before his death. Daylight saving time was used heavily during both WWI and WWII to save on costs for fuel and lighting. A great deal of confusion lasted throughout the years for service industries that operated on tight schedules. Trains and media outlets were not able to follow the time changes well. Modern daylight savings time was made into law through the Uniform Time Act of 1966.

This gave uniformity to the times changed, but states still have the opportunity to not participate. People who live in Arizona do not have to worry about setting their clocks back, due to it not being used within the state.

Did U Know..about 70 countries around the world observe DLS? Daylight Savings Time ends Nov. 3 at 2am. http://t.co/3xjwNOvsCj

— Visit Kansas City,KS (@VisitKCK) October 30, 2013

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