Why most states recognize Daylight Saving Time

At 2 a.m. Sunday clocks in most parts of the country will spring forward one hour as daylight saving time (DST) begins. It will run until Sunday, Nov. 1, 2020. Even though this means losing one hour of sleep this weekend, you'll actually be gaining an extra hour of daylight in the evening.

The first person to hint at this idea was American politician and scientist Benjamin Franklin in 1784. While working in Paris as an ambassador to the U.S. he wrote an essay titled "An Economical Project" to the editor of the Journal de Paris stating that Parisians would save a lot of money on candles if they woke up at the time of sunrise and went to bed as the sun set.

However, the concept of DST wasn't fully conceived until over a century later. In 1895, New Zealand entomologist George Vernon Hudson wrote a paper to the Wellington Philosophical Society proposing a two-hour shift forward in October and a two-hour shift backwards in March. Unfortunately, he was criticized and mocked for his proposal, as it was said to be confusing.

It wasn't until 1916, two years into the First World War, when DST was first implemented. Germany, one of the most powerful European countries at the time, decided to turn every clock in the country one hour ahead. Their goal was to minimize the use of artificial lighting so that fuel could be saved for war efforts. Soon after, other European countries -- including Austria, France and the United Kingdom -- followed suit.