Monday, November 3, 2008

Fall Back!


Have you ever heard of "daylight saving time"? Honestly, when I was in the Philippines I have no clue what is daylight saving time means. I was confused at first. I have tons of questions about it, like Why and How? And I was shocked and amazed. Really? they change their clock here? Wow! That's impressive.
Well, probably some of you will wonder what that is. So, here's the history.
"
History of Daylight Time in the U.S."

Although standard time in time zones was instituted in the U.S. and Canada by the railroads in 1883, it was not established in U.S. law until the Act of March 19, 1918, sometimes called the Standard Time Act. The act also established daylight saving time, a contentious idea then. Daylight saving time was repealed in 1919, but standard time in time zones remained in law. Daylight time became a local matter. It was re-established nationally early in World War II, and was continuously observed from 9 February 1942 to 30 September 1945. After the war its use varied among states and localities. The Uniform Time Act of 1966 provided standardization in the dates of beginning and end of daylight time in the U.S. but allowed for local exemptions from its observance. The act provided that daylight time begin on the last Sunday in April and end on the last Sunday in October, with the changeover to occur at 2 a.m. local time.

During the "energy crisis" years, Congress enacted earlier starting dates for daylight time. In 1974, daylight time began on 6 January and in 1975 it began on 23 February. After those two years the starting date reverted back to the last Sunday in April. In 1986, a law was passed that shifted the starting date of daylight time to the first Sunday in April, beginning in 1987. The ending date of daylight time was not subject to such changes, and remained the last Sunday in October. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 changed both the starting and ending dates. Beginning in 2007, daylight time starts on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November.

Not all places in the U.S. observe daylight time. In particular, Hawaii and most of Arizona do not use it. Indiana adopted its use beginning in 2006. Many other countries observe some form of "summer time", but they do not necessarily change their clocks on the same dates as the U.S."

When I first moved here in the US of A I told my family to get another clock . So they have 2 clocks, one for the Philippines time and one for the California time. When I told them about the daylight saving time, they were confused as I am before. Now, my family is aware when to change the California clock. hahaha..:)

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