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It's that time of year again. Spring forward this Sunday, March 11th 2018 at 2:00am. While we all gain an extra hour of sunlight, we also lose an hour of sleep. I don't know about you, but I prefer to have my sleep. However, do you know the reason why DST was started and what brought the United States to that. Here are some facts regarding daylight savings time.
1. It was 1st proposed in 1895 by a man who studied insects because he wanted two more hours in the day to collect them. Needless to say, it didn't happen.
2. The 1st approved time was requested by Germany in WWI to tighten the nighttime timeframe to try to save coal for heating. In 1918, the United States used DST to also save fuel during the war. Then in 1942 the US used it again in WWII.
3. Congress passed the Uniform Time Act in 1966 to nationally begin DST on the last Sunday in April and end the last Sunday in October. However, any part of the nation could refuse by passing a local ordinance.
4. There was a study done in 1970 which concluded that DST cuts electricity to equivalent of 10,000 barrels of oil. In 2008, a study concluded that the electricity cut back would be equivalent to power 100,000 homes a year. There are individual states that studied DST in 2006 & 2007 and found out that DST doesn't save them any money statewide, the state pays out of Government funding.
5. The Interstate Commerce Commission was started because businesses within the US couldn't agree on a time to start or finish. All this commotion created a group called the Time Uniform Committee in which is where the US time zones came into play.
6. Other countries' DST is not all consistent and they can fall on different days and times. In the United States, Arizona and Hawaii doesn't participate at all.
7. SAT scores are lower based on a study storied in the Journal of Neuroscience. They advised sleep schedules are not consistent which can cause students to do poorly.
8. Multiple births delivered when DST occurs can not be corrected on their birth certificate. The birth of multiple babies could actually affect their order of birth. An example: One twin is delivered at 1:55am and the other twin delivered at 2:05am. Since the second twin was born after the DST change, that twin will show birth time either 1:05am or 3:05am.
9. Crime is decreased by 10-13% during periods of DST than during standard time periods conducted by a studies.
10. DST is considered a health hazard. Studies have shown losing an extra hour of sleep can increase risk for heart attack, stroke and other illnesses.