5 Crazy Facts About Daylight Savings Time [VIDEO]
‘Daylight Saving Time is for farmers!’ I remember some hipster yelling that randomly on Pearl Street in Boulder once. I don’t remember anyone asking him anything, and I didn’t see anyone reply.
The question is, “Is Daylight Saving Time still relevant?” Colorado State Senator Greg Brophy or Wray doesn’t think so. He is attempting to eliminate it in Colorado. That, along with Prop 64, will be just another thing that makes us different from the majority of other states of our Union.
However you think about it, I was looking around and I found five things you (and when I say ‘you’, I mean ‘me’) didn’t know about Daylight Saving Time.
Halloween Safety Helped the Change
When it is dark, more kids trick or treating will be in accidents. They occur four times more often when kids are trick or treating after dark, so this factor helped push the decision through. Candy makers had lobbied for the change for decades because if their is more daylight time to trick or treat, they move a lot more sweets.
There Have Been Riots Because the Bars Close Earlier
Not expecting the taps to shut down an hour earlier has led to some upset drinkers. Nothing worse than wanting another shot and beer and being told that you can’t have it, then finding out it’s not the bar, it’s the MAN! Protest time! One year in Athens, Ohio, the home of Ohio University, revelers threw bottles at police while chanting ‘Freedom’. Freedom, indeed.
Over 70 Countries Use It
Japan, India and China are notable exceptions to the list of countries that ‘spring’ ahead and ‘fall’ back.
St. Paul Did, Minneapolis Did Not
The Twin Cities are across the Mississippi River from each other, and like human twins, they don’t always see eye to eye. This includes what time it is. Back in 1965, St. Paul decided to start Daylight Saving Time earlier than usual, marking a one hour time difference between two cities that aren’t even one minute away from each other. Oofda.
It’s SAVING, not SavingS, Time
Hats off to webexhibits.org for how thorough they were in explaining this point. Once the word ‘modifiers’ makes its way into a discussion, my eyes roll back into my head, but here is why the word ‘Saving’ doesn’t have an ‘S’ on the end of it.
Saving is used here as a verbal adjective (a participle). It modifies time and tells us more about its nature; namely, that it is characterized by the activity of saving daylight. It is a saving daylight kind of time. Because of this, it would be more accurate to refer to DST as daylight-saving time. Similar examples would be a mind-expanding book or a man-eating tiger. Saving is used in the same way as saving a ball game, rather than as a savings account.
This article goes on to explain that the other way of saying it ‘Daylight Savings Time’ has been used enough to be considered proper and acceptable.