DAYLIGHT SAVINGS:
Clock says it’s time to fall back
Friday, Oct. 31, 2008 | 10:06 a.m.
Daylight Saving Time officially ends for this year at 2 a.m. Sunday for the United States. Las Vegas Valley residents will join the rest of the country by enjoying an extra hour of sleep come Sunday morning.
Changing time to suit people's activities goes back to an idea Benjamin Franklin, signer of the U.S. Declaration of Independence and inventor, had while he was in Paris in 1784.
But the idea didn't go anywhere until London builder William Willett gave it serious consideration in 1907 in Great Britain.
The railroads in the United States and Canada first pushed standard time in the 1800s, but Daylight Saving Time formally appeared in the United States in 1918 in World War I, largely as an energy conservation measure.
During World War II, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt instituted year-round Daylight Saving Time, called "War Time," from Feb. 9, 1942, until Sept. 30, 1945.
From 1945 through 1966 the states were not required to leap forward and some, such as Arizona, remained on standard time year round.
On Jan. 4, 1974, President Richard Nixon signed the Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act of 1973. The U.S. Department of Transportation followed that law by doing a study in 1975 that showed jumping ahead one hour during the summer months of June, July, August and September saved about 1 percent of household energy used by lighting, appliances and televisions because most people spent the extra daylight hours outside.
A recent study by Swedish researchers, however, analyzed 20 years of data and the scientists discovered that people's hearts loved falling back an hour instead of springing forward. The number of heart attacks drop the Monday after people return to standard time and increase in the week following the leap forward in springtime. An extra hour of sleep may contribute to heart health, the study said when it appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine on Thursday.
So while all states will fall back on Sunday, residents in Arizona and Hawaii won't have to meddle with their clocks: they remain on standard time and don't switch that dial.
Discussion: 1 comment so far…
Post a comment
- Most Read
- Discussed
- Most E-mailed
- Police: 3 arrested in officer’s death have gang ties
- Corrections officer with Metro killed in U.S. 95 crash
- System fails to catch contractor’s family tie with county
- Where to watch UFC 106
- Fontainebleau contractors say sales process is flawed
- UNLV and Southern Illinois will be guarded tonight
- Findlay guard Joseph scores 33, talks about UNLV
- Bishop Gorman takes Sunset Region title in win over Cimarron
- Fighters make weight, Dana White talks Rampage/Rashad
- Reid clears major health care hurdle, daunting weeks ahead
Blogs
The Kats Report
For props, Lewis Black needs only his manic delivery and torrid material (4 Comments)
Elsewhere
Sands China raises $2.5 billion in Hong Kong IPO (1 Comment)
Marquardt v. Sonnen scheduled for UFC 109
Bloggity, Bloggity, Bloggity
Will a fourth consecutive title by Jimmie Johnson be good or bad for NASCAR? (4 Comments)
Top Chef: Las Vegas
The Jet Stream: And then there were four
Top Chef Episode 12: On keeping it simple
Miech Again
Chilly start for Chace, but Stanback says he'll warm up (2 Comments)
- Live chat
- Tuesday, noon PST
- Chat with Krista Creelman
- Problem Gambling Center executive director Krista Creelman will answer questions about gambling addiction from Las Vegas Sun readers from noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. ... Submit question
Calendar »
- 22 Sun
- 23 Mon
- 24 Tue
- 25 Wed
- 26 Thu
-
The Four Tops at The Orleans Showroom
Orleans Hotel-Casino
-
The Chase at Downtown Cocktail Room
Downtown Cocktail Room | 10 p.m. to 11:59 p.m.
-
Lady Gaga album release party at Revolution Lounge
Beatles Revolution Lounge | 10 p.m. to 11:59 p.m.
-
Food drive at Christian Audigier
Christian Audigier The Nightclub | 10 p.m. to 11:59 p.m.
-
Above & Beyond at Moon
Moon Nightclub | 10 p.m. to 11:59 p.m.
The Sun
Locally owned and independent for more than 50 years.
Technorati













Democrats go back one hour. Republicans, set your clocks to 1953.