This year, U.S. clocks spring forward an hour at 2 a.m. local time on March 8. Implementing Daylight Saving Time, or Summer Time, has always been an uphill battle. Benjamin Franklin first thought of shifting daylight, but Londoner William Willet pushed the idea in Great Britain. Before the idea of Summer Time surfaced, people had to accept and adopt the notion of standardized time. For millennia, people have measured time based on the position of the sun; it was noon when the sun was highest in the sky. Sundials were used well into the Middle Ages, at which time mechanical clocks began to appear. Cities would set their town clock by measuring the position of the sun, but every city would be on a slightly different time. In the spring, clocks spring forward from 1:59 a.m. to 3 a.m. The time was originally chosen because it minimized disruption. Most people were home and the fewest trains were running at 2 a.m. It is late enough to minimally affect bars and restaurants and it prevents the day from switching to yesterday, which would be confusing. So, regardless if the event was created and is still practiced because people like it, it conserves energy, it causes fewer traffic accidents, reduces crime, or increases voter turnout, the fact remains. At 1:59 a.m. on March 8 folks should set the clocks to 3 a.m. and spring on forward.
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