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So what’s the Deal With….Daylight Savings?

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Broward chapter.

 

Since Daylight Savings Time Ends is this Sunday….I just would like to inform about such a concept.

Twice a year, people all over America move their clocks one hour forward and a few months later, move their clocks one hour back. But why? How does this change time and why do we use this idea of daylight savings time?

Once joked about by Benjamin Franklin, it wasn’t until the early 1900’s when places in the United States began using Daylight Savings Time. In ancient times, places used a form of daylight savings to adjust their clocks to match that of the sun’s rising and setting.

In 1918, President Woodrow Wilson put Daylight Savings in to affect, but it only lasted for a few months. It wasn’t until President Franklin D. Roosevelt reinstated or began Daylight Savings again in 1942 that it stuck around. This was done to help support the efforts for World War 2. Between the years of 1945 until 1966, there was no real rules to Daylight Savings in the United States, making things very confusing for buses, trains, and TV stations.

In 1966, the United States decided that they needed to make a uniform Daylight Savings Time. At this time, it was decided that the times of Daylight Savings Time would occur in April and in October.

Today, Daylight Savings Time is used in over 70 different countries. The dates and times vary around the world, but most places run Daylight Savings Time from March to October.

In the end, Daylight Savings Time still exists for the same reason as ancient times – it is a way to change our clocks to match the natural clock – the sun!

I'm Miss. Congeniality of Broward College North Campus, Events Coordinator of the Psychology Club at Broward College North Campus, new president of Her Campus Broward, I work for Student Services at Broward College North Campus, and I just like to get involved in many great activities that benefit my personal growth.
Ana Cedeno is a journalism major and campus correspondent for Broward College. Originally from Guayaquil, Ecuador, she immigrated to the United States when she was twelve years old and continued her education in the sunny, politically contradictory, swamp state of Florida. She has since been published by both her college newspaper and the online grassroots journalism publication Rise Miami News. A fan of literature since age 6, she's an enthusiast of language and making her opinion known, while still hearing out the other side and keeping an open mind for growth.