Daylight saving time, ahhh, that extra hour of sleep.  Here are five things you probably didn’t know about Daylight Saving Time.

1. Benjamin Franklin wasn’t the first to propose DST.

William Willet of London orginally published a pamphlet called “Waste of Daylight” in 1907.  His attempts at putting DST into action never took hold.   In fact the United States wasn’t the first country to adopt a DST system.  It was Germany.

2.  Not all of the United States observes Daylight Standard Time

Arizona doesn’t observe DST.   Arizona is also referred to as the Daylight Saving Donut.  Althought The Navajo Nation reservation named Hopi does observe it. Since Hopi is located in the middle of Arizona, it is commonly called the “donut”.

3.  The United States and European Union switch at different times.

The European Union Summer Time ends at 1 am on the last Sunday in October.  Since the United States doesn’t revert back until the first Sunday of November, there is a one week gap in change.

4.  Daylight Saving Time hasn’t always been standardized

In the 1950s and 60s each US locality could start and end when they wanted.  In one year Iowa had 23 different start an end dates alone.  In 1965 St. Paul, Minnesota of the Twin Cities Minneapolis and St. Paul, began early, while Minneapolis did not.  So for a period the neighboring cities had an hour difference in time.   In 1966 the Uniform Time Act set federal rules for daylight saving time.

5.  Daylight Saving Time doesn’t exist in Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan abolished daylight saving time due to negative health effects.  The country reports that over 50% of the population responded poorly to the time change.  In fact, there is a spike in heart attacks during the first week of DST.  Studies blame it on the loss of an hour.  In the fall that number drops.  How’s that for interesting?

While the information above isn’t earth shattering and probably won’t help you win a Tocky or Clocky alarm clock, you will be the envy of your friends when it comes to Trivia Pursuit.

Do you have any random facts you would like to add about Daylight Saving Time?

Source: webexhibits.org and funtrivia.com
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