Community Corner

Did You Remember to Set Your Clocks Back for Daylight Saving Time 2012?

These dark mornings have you wondering: When does Daylight Savings Time end?

Reminder:

It's that time of year again. 

The "fall back" day is coming to clocks across the nation. Daylight Saving Time ends at 2 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 4. 

Find out what's happening in Ameswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Daylight Savings Time ends 2 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 4, giving everyone an extra hour this weekend. 

Here are some places to give that hour in Ames:

Find out what's happening in Ameswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Boys & Girls Club

MICA

Volunteer Center of Story County

United Way

Ames Community School District


Remember, you’ll “fall back” and set your clocks back one hour. Many electronic devices automatically adjust when Daylight Savings Time begins or ends.

When you change your clocks in the fall and spring, it’s also a good time to change smoke detector batteries and check to make sure the devices are in working order. Arizona, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, U.S. Virgin Islands and American Samoa do not observe Daylight Savings Time. Daylight Savings Time begins again on March 10, 2013.

According to the Huffington Post

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

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. The time change will precede the first day of spring and the vernal equinox, which is set to take place at 1:14 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, March 20.


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