Warwick, RI – Once you’re done with Trick-Or-Treaters, don’t forget it’s time to Fall Back — set your clocks back an hour — for Daylight Savings Time at 2 a.m. tomorrow.
Daylight Savings Time, said to have been the brainchild of Benjamin Franklin, has been in use throughout much of the United States, Canada and Europe since World War I, according to NASA.gov.
In 1966, President Lyndon Johnson signed an act into law whereby Daylight Saving Time begins on the last Sunday of April and ends on the last Sunday of October each year. However, any State can opt out of Daylight Saving Time by passing a State law.
While most modern gadgets — cell phones, alarm clocks, some TVs — switch the time automatically, it’s still a good idea to change the times on other devices Saturday night before bedtime.
It’s also a good time to switch the batteries in smoke alarms and CO2 detectors.
Like many longtime American practices, DST in the fall has its own history of oddities, according to webexhibits.org, including:
DST can change birth order During the time change in the fall, one baby could be born at 1:55 a.m. and the sibling born ten minutes later, at 1:05 a.m. In the spring, there is a gap when no babies are born at all: from 2 to 3 a.m.
Trains in limbo When clocks fall back in October, Amtrak trains running on time stop at 2 a.m. and wait one hour before resuming. Overnight passengers will find their train at a dead stop and their travel time an hour longer than expected.
We’ll get the hour back at 2 a.m. on April 3, after a hopefully not-too-grueling show-shoveling season.
Author: Rob Borkowski
Rob has worked as reporter and editor for several publications, including The Kent County Daily Times and Coventry Courier, before working for Gatehouse in MA then moving home with Patch Media. Now he's publisher and editor of WarwickPost.com. Contact him at [email protected] with tips, press releases, advertising inquiries, and concerns.
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