Daylight Saving Time when clocks are turned forward an hour, signaling that spring has nearly arrived, starts two weeks from Sunday.
Daylight Saving time will begin at 2 a.m. on Sunday, March 10, 2024.
The sun will set around 6 p.m. in New Jersey on March 9. The following day, after the time shift and the end of standard time, sunset is at 7 p.m. The sun will, however, rise nearly an hour later — at about 7:16 a.m. on Sunday, March 10, after coming up at 6:18 a.m. on Saturday, March 9.
In the meantime, sunset is later than 5:50 p.m. each day, with sunrise just before 6:30 a.m.
Daylight Saving Time, sometimes incorrectly referred to by the plural Daylight Savings Time, begins the second Sunday in March and ends the first Sunday in November.
Spring starts on March 19 at 11:06 p.m.
Daylight Saving Time ends on Nov. 3, 2024 at 2 a.m.
Until 2007, Daylight Saving Time began at 2 a.m. on the first Sunday in April and ended at 2 a.m. on the last Sunday in October.
What states in the U.S. don’t observe Daylight Saving Time?
While most states change clocks for Daylight Saving Time, there are some holdouts.
Most of Arizona and all of Hawaii does not observe Daylight Saving Time. In addition, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands do not participate in Daylight Saving Time.
Indiana didn’t start observing Daylight Saving Time until 2006.
The Uniform Time Act of 1966 allows states to exempt themselves from observing Daylight Saving Time.
Any bill would need authorization of the U.S. Congress to be implemented as federal law does not allow year-round Daylight Saving Time.
Two bills introduced in the state legislature in New Jersey in 2022 that would establish Daylight Saving Time as the official time year-round remain pending, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
At least 29 states considered or were considering 75 pieces of legislation related to Daylight Saving Time last year, the NCSL said. Nineteen states have either passed resolutions or passed legislation calling for permanent Daylight Saving Time, the NCSL reports.
Last week, a state senate committee in Oregon passed a bill to end Daylight Saving Time as well, according to KPTV.com. The bill failed to clear the state Senate, though, OPB.org reported.
While the U.S. Senate passed the Sunshine Protection Act in March 2022, the House of Representatives didn’t act on it so it never reached the desk of President Joe Biden.
In 2023, 12 U.S. senators re-introduced the bill to make Daylight Saving Time permanent.
A CBS News poll in 2022 showed 46% of Americans prefer year-round Daylight Saving Time, with 33% wanting year-round Standard Time and the remaining 21% happy to continue to switch back and forth.
What is the origin of modern Daylight Saving Time?
During World War I, the German Empire implemented an idea that most resembles the Daylight Saving Time that we observe today.
Believing that it would conserve fuel during the war, the German Empire in 1916 became the first to switch its clocks to save daylight.
Benjamin Franklin is credited with coming up with the notion of making better use of the day’s light. While visiting Paris in 1784, Franklin came to believe that sunlight was being wasted during the day. In a joking letter to the editors of a Paris newspaper, Franklin proposed a tax on all Parisians whose windows were closed after sunrise.
He believed that this would “encourage the economy of using sunshine instead of candles,” according to Michael Downing, author of Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time.
When did the U.S. adopt Daylight Saving Time?
In 1918, the U.S. enacted the first Daylight Saving Time law as a way to conserve fuel. It was reintroduced during World War II.
The U.S. put nationwide, year-round daylight saving into effect during World War II starting on Feb. 9, 1942, thinking it would help conserve energy, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. Nicknamed War Time, it remained in effect until September 1945 when Japan surrendered.
In 1973, President Nixon signed into law the Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act, which made DST permanent in the U.S. This helped reduce confusion throughout the country with some regions of the U.S. participating in the practice and some regions opting out. The law was redacted less than a year later, though.
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Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com.
First appeared on www.nj.com