(https://camdenblogs.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/image.jpg) Falling Back This Sunday morning, many Americans will set their clocks one hour back to end Daylight Saving Time, which occurs in the spring when most states move the clock ahead one hour whereby the sun rises one hour later and sets one hour later than otherwise. This weekend, it’s time to fall back to Standard Time. Inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin is usually credited as the inventor of Daylight Saving Time. Franklin wrote an essay about the virtue of waking up at dawn to begin work and making use of natural morning light to economize the use of candles. The concept was never put into practice during his lifetime. Germany was actually the first country to implement DST in 1916, and then in 1945 Franklin D. Roosevelt instituted DST following the bombing of Pearl Harbor to save fuel and decrease the need for artificial lighting. Farmers were opposed to the idea as the daylight dictated their schedule for harvesting crops and milking cows, not the time on a clock. As a result of protest, the practice was repealed. Following that there was a period of confusion as individual states started and ended DST whenever they saw fit. Finally, Congress passed the Uniform Time Act in 1966, which provided the basic framework for alternating between Daylight Saving Time and Standard Time. Not all states in the United States spring forward and fall back. Hawaii and Arizona remain on Standard Time year-round as do many countries nearer to the equator since their daylight hours don’t vary much from season to season. Retail outlets and recreational businesses benefit from the extra daylight, and during a recent energy shortage, the U.S. schedule for Daylight Saving Time was lengthened by almost a month. Now it typically begins the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday of November. The clock adjustment tradition of 'falling back' in the fall and 'springing forward' is not popular with everyone. Some believe Daylight Saving Time has outlived its usefulness. Evidence does not conclusively point to energy conservation as a result of daylight saving. While consumers may use less energy for lighting, they use more for air conditioning, so it’s not such a cost saving measure. According to a Rasmussen Report from 2013, only 37 % of Americans see the purpose of DST compared to 45 % the year before. Regardless of whether one thinks Daylight Saving Time is a necessity, most will certainly enjoy the extra hour of sleep this Sunday. ZZZZZZZZZZZ