On Sunday, March 8th, we lost an hour of the day because of Daylight Saving Time, prompting us to ask: what even is Daylight Saving Time, or what is its purpose?

Daylight saving time is when we set our clocks 1 hour back in the spring and 1 hour ahead in the fall. It’s so we can have more sunlight during the day, and to save and conserve energy by not using electricity from lights as much.

Most people think we have daylight saving time because of farmers, but that is actually just a myth.

During the summer, because the Earth is tilted on its axis, it’s tilted toward the sun. In the winter, the axis is tilted away from the sun. Meaning in the winter, you spend less time in the sun than in the summer. So if we put our clocks an hour ahead in the winter, the sun would be coming up at a more reasonable time, where people would actually be waking up. This would save energy, so we wouldn’t have to keep our lights on as much. A lot of people argue that daylight saving time isn’t helping save energy at all. That’s not a lot of people are waking up at 6 AM in the morning. So really having this extra hour of sun isnt effecting main peoples lives.

Fun facts on Daylight Saving Time

60 percent of the world doesn’t even use the energy that we conserve.

Less than 40 percent of the world observes daylight saving time.

Official credit for the daylight savings time idea goes to an entomologist.

Germany made daylight saving time a law.

Daylight saving time gained new popularity during the energy crisis.

Daylight saving time may actually be an energy waster.

Daylight saving time is not mandated by law.

Daylight savings won’t be effective in countries near the equator.

Most farmers actually oppose daylight saving time.

Pets notice changes in human behavior during daylight saving time.

A study found that most people lose 40 minutes of sleep when daylight saving time starts.

It was first suggested by Benjamin Franklin, as a joke, actually. To mock the French laziness, saying it would be good for them to wake up earlier.

The actual inventor of daylight saving time is George Vernon Hudson, who proposed the idea in 1895. It didn’t actually become a thing until March 19th, 1918, during World War I.

Actually, a lot of people think daylight saving time is useless and that it shouldn’t be a thing. While a lot of people strongly believe that daylight saving time is very important. A lot of different countries around the world don’t participate in daylight saving time. As well, two states in the U.S. don’t participate in daylight saving time. For example, Hawaii does not partake in daylight savings because the state is so close to the equator. So even during the winter, the state still gets plenty of sunlight. Also, Arizona does not participate either, because of similar reasons.

All in all its important and cool to know about daylight savings. So you can create your own opinion on daylight saving time. Let us know your opinion, leave a comment down below. Do you think we should have daylight savings or that it should be banned in the United States?