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Community Corner

Daylight Savings Time Ends in 2012

Daylight Savings Time Ends at 2 a.m. on Sunday Nov. 4.

If you've enjoyed the extra daylight hours this fall, you'll need to start readjusting to early darkness.

Daylight Savings Time officially ends at 2 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 4.

Remember, you’ll “fall back” and set your clocks back one hour when you go to sleep the night before. Many electronic devices automatically adjust when Daylight Savings Time begins or ends.

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Do you think we should do away with Daylight Savings Time? Are you frustrated by losing an hour? Vote in our poll here.

Few people know the actual history behind Daylight Savings Time.

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There is some debate, but the concept of Daylight Savings Time seems to have been first mentioned by Benjamin Franklin in an essay titled, “An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light” in 1784.

Then, in 1883, time zones were created to standardize railroad schedules, with an international standard time adopted by the International Prime Meridian Conference in 1884.

In 1918, Congress placed the United States on Daylight Savings Time to conserve resources for the war efforts. The law was repealed due to unpopularity in 1919.

In 1942, Congress reinstated it due to World War II. The clock was advanced one-hour, year-round until 1945.

From 1946-1966, there was no formal law regarding DST. Confusion in the transportation and broadcasting industries ensued and in 1966, Congress passed the Uniform Time Act, dictating that DST would begin on the last Sunday in April and run through the last Sunday of October. However, local authorities were permitted to pass ordinances to become exempt.

In 1986, the law was amended to lengthen DST, starting it in the first Sunday of April.

Throughout the early to mid 1970s, the laws changed again due to the Arab Oil Embargo.

President Ronald Reagan reinstated the first Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October time frame in 1986.

In 2005, the Energy Policy Act contained language to extend DST yet again, beginning in 2007, and since then DST has run from the second Sunday in March through the first Sunday in November.

States and territories still reserve the right to choose not to follow DST, and until 2006, half of the State of Indiana honored DTS, while the other half did not.

Hawaii, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and American Samoa do not observe Daylight Savings Time. Arizona (aside from the Navajo Indian Reservation) is the only continental U.S. state that currently does not change its clocks two times a year.  

When you change your clocks in the fall and spring, it’s also a good time to change smoke detector batteries and check to make sure device are in working order.

Daylight Savings Time begins again on March 10, 2013.

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