When Is Daylight Saving Time 2016? Why We Change Clocks To Spring Forward

If you’re trying to get a little extra sleep this weekend, you might be out of luck. Americans will be getting an extra hour of sunlight when daylight saving time begins this Sunday and they turn their clocks forward at 2 a.m. to 3 a.m.

The tradition is supposed to help conserve energy by allowing people to make better use of daylight time as sunrise and sunset are each pushed one hour later in the day. This reverses when the country returns to standard time Nov. 6.

In America, many people credit Benjamin Franklin with the idea for changing the clocks at different seasons. He wrote an essay in 1784 called “An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light,” which noted that people used more candles to see in the evening while sleeping past dawn. He joked that changing the clocks for several months could conserve candle usage, but he did not act on his plan.

Instead, the first places to use daylight saving time were some cities and regions of Canada in the early 1900s and then Germany in World War I, according to Time and Date. In Germany, citizens turned clocks ahead one hour to save fuel during the first world war, and this was around the same time the U.S. first implemented the plan. The idea also caught on in Britain and France, but many countries abandoned the practice until World War II caused similar concerns.

U.S. President Lyndon Johnson signed the Uniform Time Act, making daylight saving time official, in 1966. But there are still some states and territories that don’t participate. Hawaii, most of Arizona, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands do not change their clocks, according to USA Today.

Most people in the U.S. don’t have to think too much about daylight saving time, as smartphones, computers and digital clocks all “spring forward” on their own. Just remember to change analog watches, microwaves and other appliances so you don’t make yourself late for brunch Sunday.