It's that time of the year again when the clocks "spring forward". March 14th at 2 a.m. the time changes in North America—with the exceptions of Arizona, and a few of the Canadian provinces—as the season heads into spring.
Daylight saving time begins at 2 a.m. the second Sunday of March, lasting until the first Sunday of November.
About 70 countries observe a form of daylight saving, though the times and length vary based on their locations and laws.
The idea behind the time change is to move an hour of daylight from the morning to the evening during the spring and summer months when the days are longer—the exception being the countries situated along the equator where the days are 12 hours throughout the year.
The observance of daylight saving time has been in America and Europe since World War I, though not officially adopted into law in the U.S. until 1918.
A writer in 1947 noted,
I don't really care how time is reckoned so long as there is some agreement about it, but I object to being told that I am saving daylight when my reason tells me that I am doing nothing of the kind. I even object to the implication that I am wasting something valuable if I stay in bed after the sun has risen. As an admirer of moonlight I resent the bossy insistence of those who want to reduce my time for enjoying it. At the back of the Daylight Saving scheme I detect the bony, blue-fingered hand of Puritanism, eager to push people into bed earlier, and get them up earlier, to make them healthy, wealthy and wise in spite of themselves." (Robertson Davies, The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks, 1947, XIX, Sunday.)
Don't be late, Tacoma.
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