Daylight Saving Time begins on March 10 — here’s the history behind the bi-annual time change, and why some states have gotten rid of it

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• At 2 AM on March 10, Americans will "spring forward" change their clocks to an hour later for Daylight Saving Time. 
• While "springing forward" means losing an hour of sleep, the sun will be out for longer in the day. 
• The common wisdom about DST is that it’s about farming, but it’s not. 
• The history of daylight saving time goes back to World War I, when it was thought to save energy. 
• Here’s the full history of daylight saving time, and why some warmer states don’t recognize it.

On March 10th at 2 AM ET, states that recognize daylight saving time will "spring forward" and move their clocks one hour ahead. 

While "springing forward" means losing an hour of sleep, the sun will be out for longer in the day, a nice benefit for those living in colder, northern states.

Thinkers including Benjamin Franklin, New Zealand scientist George Hudson, and Englishman William Willett advocated for plans that would give them more sunlight in the day going all the way back to the 18th and 19th centuries. 

Read more: 10 things you didn’t know about Benjamin Franklin, who first suggested an idea similar to Daylight Saving Time

The United States and several other European countries enacted daylight saving time during World Wars I and II as an energy-conservation measure, and kept it during peace-time.

Today, most of the US except for Hawaii, Arizona, and many US territories all recognize daylight savings time. While many northern states appreciate the extra hour of sun, some states which experience unbearable heat in the summer prefer an hour of night instead. 

Here’s the full history of daylight saving time in the United States.

The idea for daylight saving time is attributed to a British man named William Willett, who published a pamphlet in 1907 titled “The Waste of Daylight,” which argued for an extra 80 minutes of sunlight in the summer.

Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images

Source: The History Channel

While Britain didn’t act on Willet’s proposal at the time, Germany implemented daylight saving time during World War I as a way to converse electricity by maximizing sunlight.

H. D. Girdwood via Library of Congress

Source: The History Channel

“They remembered Willett’s idea of moving the clock forward and thus having more daylight during working hours,” author and historian David Prerau told National Geographic. “While the British were talking about it year after year, the Germans decided to do it more or less by fiat.”

AP Photo/Frank Augstein

Source: National Geographic

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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SEE ALSO: Daylight Saving Time is literally killing us

Source: Business Insider – gpanetta@businessinsider.com (Grace Panetta)