Daylight Saving Time Starts Sunday

It's almost time to "spring forward."

At 2 a.m. on Sunday, we'll be setting our clocks ahead one hour for Daylight Saving Time. The good news: sunset will be an hour later.

You may have noticed that the start of Daylight Saving Time has crept forward on the calendar a bit. We used to spring forward on the first Sunday in April and fall back on the last Sunday in October. But a couple of years ago, Congress changed the date, adding more Daylight Saving Time to the calendar. This year, it will run from March 11 until Nov. 4.

Unless, that is, you live in Arizona, Hawaii, Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands. Those places don't switch to Daylight Saving Time.

Around the world, about 75 countries and territories have at least one location that observes Daylight Saving Time, according to TimeandDate.com. On the other hand, 164 don't observe the time change at all.

Brief History

Benjamin Franklin has been credited with the idea of Daylight Saving Time. Britain and Germany began using it in World War I to conserve energy. The United States used Daylight Saving Time for a brief time during that war, but it didn't become widely accepted in until after World War II.

In 1966, the Uniform Time Act outlined that clocks should be set forward on the last Sunday in April and set back the last Sunday in October.

That law was amended in 1986 to start Daylight Saving Time on the first Sunday in April, though the new system wasn't implemented until 1987. The end date was not changed, however, and remained the last Sunday in October until 2006.

Today, Daylight Saving Time begins on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November.