11 Things You Never Knew About Daylight Saving Time

Get ready to spring forward this month when daylight saving time (DST) replaces standard time in almost all of the United States and most of Canada and Mexico, as well as much of Europe and the rest of the world. But exactly why do we lose an hour of sleep each spring only to gain it back in the fall? Blame founding father Benjamin Franklin, who suggested in a 1784 essay that people should get out of bed one hour earlier in the spring and summer to enjoy more natural light. Fast-forward to 1895, when New Zealand entomologist George Hudson proposed the modern version of daylight saving time to give him more time in the evenings to collect insects. The idea gained traction in Europe during World War I as a way to save coal, and the United States adopted DST in 1918. It was, however, repealed the following year. Daylight saving time was reinstated as a wartime measure in 1942, but at the war's end states and cities were free to decide whether to observe it or not. It wasn't until 1966 that daylight saving time became official throughout most of the United States. Read on for a few more surprising facts about daylight saving time. Via builders feed http://www.rssmix.com/