PICKENS COUNTY — Get rested up while you can, because this weekend everyone will be “losing” an hour of sleep as daylight saving time returns and everyone “springs forward” at 2 a.m. Sunday.

Although most digital devices will make the change automatically, those people with bedside alarms and wall clocks will probably want to go ahead and re-set them an hour ahead on Saturday night before going to sleep.

Fire departments across the country also use DST as a reminder to change out the batteries in smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.

While it is generally assumed clocks are moved forward across the country, Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands and some parts of Indiana do not observe DST. In addition, most of Arizona opts out, although it is observed on the Navajo Nation lands.

On Feb. 9, 1942, Congress pushed ahead standard time for the United States by one hour in each time zone imposing “war time,” known today as daylight saving time.

Daylight saving time was suggested by President Roosevelt, according to history.com, and was imposed to conserve fuel. This can be tracked back to World War I, when Congress imposed one standard time on the United States to enable the country to better utilize resources, following the European model.

The 1918 Standard Time Act was only meant to be in effect for seven months, but was discontinued nationally after the war. Although discontinued, individual states continued to turn clocks ahead one hour in spring, and back an hour in the fall.

The World War II legislation imposed daylight-saving time for the entire nation for the entire year. It was repealed on Sept. 30, 1945, when individual states once again imposed their own “standard” time.

In 1966 Congress passed legislation setting a standard time that permanently superseded local habits. Today, daylight-saving time is used in dozens of countries across the globe.

Fun facts

• Many people render the term “saving” in its plural form. Since the word “saving” acts as part of an adjective rather than a verb, the singular is grammatically correct.

• Hawaii and Arizona opted out of daylight saving time and remain on standard time year round.

• Germany was the first country to enact daylight saving time on April 30, 1916.

Get rested up while you can, because this weekend everyone will be "losing" an hour of sleep as Daylight Savings Time returns and everyone "springs forward" this Sunday, March 13, at 2:00 a.m.
https://www.theeasleyprogress.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_DaylightSavings2.jpgGet rested up while you can, because this weekend everyone will be "losing" an hour of sleep as Daylight Savings Time returns and everyone "springs forward" this Sunday, March 13, at 2:00 a.m.

By Kasie Strickland

kstrickland@civitasmedia.com

Reach Kasie Strickland at 864-855-0355.