If you happen to be awake and asterisk at your smartphone in the very former hour of the morning on Sunday , November 6 , you ’ll have the small pleasure of observe the time jump off right from 1:59 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. daytime saving time(DST ) , of class , is the reason you ’re earn an 60 minutes of slumber — but why that hr , specifically ?
AsTIMEexplains , the United States first adopted DST in 1918 as a path to economize energy during World War I , following the lead of both England and Germany . When choosing exactly when to make the switch , functionary were look for an hour that could well evaporate without wreaking havoc on hoi polloi ’s docket across the commonwealth . Since no Amtrak trains departed New York City on Sundays at 2 a.m. , lose that hour seemed a little less consequential than any other .
“ Sunday morning at 2 a.m. was when [ a clip change ] would interrupt the least amount of train locomotion around the country , ” Michael Downing , author ofSpring Forward : The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time , toldTIME .
The United States did n’t stick with daylight saving meter after 1918 — partially because so many sodbuster opposed it — but it did rise the tradition during World War II , and Congress validate the practice session in 1966 with theUniform Time Act(which also created the time zones we use today ) .
The ground DST ’s 2 a.m. start time has stay received through the years is n’t just because it foreclose mix-up among late - night railroad train passengers . Considering that most bar and eating house are close by then , and early break - worker wo n’t be awake yet , it ’s a passably quiet hour across the control board .
marvel how daytime saving fourth dimension will affect sunrise and sunset time in your expanse ? Here ’s amapfor that .
[ h / tTIME ]
