Spring Forward, Fall Back, Roll Over, Sit, Stay

By Shannon in News on Oct 28, 2006 5:00PM

It's that time again, people. Late in the bowels of October, we as a state get up in the middle of the night, take a whiz, set the clocks back one hour to revert to standard time from daylight-saving time, and blearily flop back into our comfy, comfy beds. So it has been since DST was enacted nationwide in 1967. Until next year, that is.

This is the last year we will "fall back" in October. Starting in 2007, Illinois and all DST-observing states (Arizona and Hawaii, quit snickering at us) will observe daylight-saving time from the second Sunday of March (!) to the first Sunday of November (!!). That's a lotta extra DST days. Why the switch? Well, lawmakers figure that by changing the window for DST, much energy will be saved by making daylight last longer. More energy saved = more money saved = slightly less gas gouging, we're guessing/hoping.

Every time we have to go through this whole clock-changing rigamarole, we wonder how the whole thing got started. Contrary to popular (and Homeric) belief, farmers are not the reason for daylight-saving time. It actually started in Europe during WWI, in order to save people from sleeping while it was still light out in the summer, and coming home from work in pitch black in the winter. We're not so sure of the effectiveness of the latter point. From there it spread to England, then Newfoundland, then the US and points beyond (but not near the equator - it's a "temperate climate" thang, since we're so slanted from the sun). Official time zones grew out of DST's usage. It was ditched soon after its initiation but brought back for WWII, with no nationwide consistency until 1967. Farmers actually hate it, claiming DST makes them out of sync with towns and transportation. Those wacky funsters, farmers.

So, say goodbye to falling back before Halloween. Oh, and check your smoke alarms, too, will ya? We wouldn't want another fire on our hands.

Image via smussyolay.