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When Does Daylight Saving Time End in 2018?

Did you know that Benjamin Franklin — yes, that Franklin — was an avid supporter of Daylight Saving Time? During his lifetime, he came up with the idea to reset clocks during Summer months in order to conserve light and energy. Though, of course, at the time energy was a lot less prominent.

DST sunlight relaxing Maybe that’s why it wasn’t until May 1916 that Germany first established DST as a means to conserve fuel — this was during World War I when fuel costs were high and resources low. Shortly after, the rest of Europe followed suit and in 1918, the United States adopted the practice too.

Oddly enough, the US abolished DST at the end of World War I, despite the current President’s — Woodrow Wilson — desires to keep it around. In 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt brought it back, calling it “War Time” as a reference to World War II.

Over the years, it’s been modified, changed in various ways and argued for — and against — but that’s the gist of DST’s emergence.

Today, fewer than 40 percent of the world’s countries observe the practice, but those that do continue to keep up with the time change because of those sweet, sweet daylight hours gained.

What is Daylight Saving Time?

Daylight Saving Time — often misrepresented as Daylight Savings with an “s” in the name — happens during the summer months when there are longer days, because of the Earth’s natural rotation and orbit around the sun.

Those observing DST will move their clocks forward an hour at a specified time so the days are longer, and there is more available sunlight. When DST is over, the clocks are set back an hour, effectively returning them to what is considered “standard” time.

Collectively, our society observes DST for a handful of reasons the most obvious of which is the extra sunlight, so longer workdays. It also means that less energy is used, and there are even studies supporting fewer road accidents and fatigue related injuries.

When Does Daylight Saving End in 2018?

As summer comes to a close, many in DST active locations are wondering when it will end. Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as everyone around their world turning their clocks back at the same time. Countries and regions observe separate times and dates for the change.

Some of the more prominent DST time change schedules are: