The end of Daylight Savings Time is just around the corner, which means the clocks will “fall back” one hour in most parts of the US on Sunday, November 3, 2024. Here’s what you need to know about daylight saving time and why we change our clock times twice a year.

When is summer time?

Daylight saving time started on March 10 this year, when we set the clocks forward one hour. Daylight saving time ends on November 3, when the clocks are set back one hour.

The transfer will take place at 2:00 am local time.

So at 1:59:59 AM on November 3, your digital clocks, like those on your cell phone, won’t jump to 2:00 AM; they drop back to 1:00 am. You will need to reset your analog clocks and any clocks that do not adjust automatically.

This means we gain an hour – unlike the spring change to daylight saving time, when we lose an hour of sleep. It means that the sun sets an hour earlier in the evening and rises an hour earlier in the morning.

For example, in New York City, the sun sets at 5:50 PM on November 2, but the next day, once daylight saving time ends on November 3, the sun sets at 4:49 PM.

The history of daylight saving time

Time zones in the US were established by the Standard Time Act in 1918, which also introduced daylight saving time, according to the US Astronomical Application Department, part of the US Naval Observatory. The law was so controversial that daylight saving time was repealed in 1919, reinstated during World War II, and then became a state and local ordinance.

But the Uniform Time Act of 1966 made it federal law again, although the start and end dates have changed over the years. Since 2007 summer time in the US it starts on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November.

Although the idea of ​​changing the clock to rely more on sunlight is often attributed to Ben Franklin, the Franklin Institute disputes this, saying he was merely suggesting that people in Paris change their sleep schedule so they can save money on candles and lamp oil .

The institute thanks New Zealand entomologist George Hudson, who presented the idea in 1895 because he wanted more daylight in the evening.

However, the National Conference of State Legislatures attributes the idea to British builder William Willett. While Hudson wanted more daylight to hunt bugs, Willett wanted it, they say, so he could play more golf.

Which states do not observe daylight saving time?

Hawaii and most of Arizona do not set their clocks to daylight saving time, choosing to stay on standard time only.

A majority of countries in Europe and North America observe daylight saving time, although not all follow exactly the same schedule. Many countries in the Southern Hemisphere do so as well, but their timing is different because their summer occurs during our winter months.

Will the practice of changing the clocks for daylight saving time ever end?

By 2022, passed the Senate a bill called the Sunshine Protection Act, which would make daylight saving time permanent. The bill was supported by 17 bipartisan cosponsors, including Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who has long argued that we should stop “falling back” in November and keep daylight saving time year-round.

“This ritual of changing the time twice a year is stupid. Locking down the clock has overwhelming bipartisan and popular support. I hope we can finally get this done in this Congress,” Rubio, a Republican, said in a statement.

Rep. Vern Buchanan, also a Republican from Florida, introduced similar legislation in the House of Representatives, saying there are “tremendous health and economic benefits to making daylight saving time permanent.”

However, Time was running out on the House bill in 2023 after it was referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Subcommittee on Innovation, Data, and Commerce.