Daylight Saving Time 2016: When do clocks go back or forwards in USA, UK?

A number of states in the U.S. will have an extra hour for sleeping when Daylight Saving Time (DST) ends at 2:00 a.m. this Nov. 6. Once DST ends, clocks will reset an hour earlier to make it 1:00 a.m.

When the days are lighter and the nights are darker, several states in the U.S. will be participating in this phenomenon. DST begins in spring, when people set their clocks an hour forward. Meanwhile, in the fall, the clocks are set an hour back. The end of DST signifies the coming of winter.

Although DST applies to several states in the country, states such as Arizona (except the Navajo Indian Reservation), Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Virgin islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Island do not participate in DST. Recently, Utah has been considering to discontinue the practice.

In the U.K., DST will come earlier. DST will end on Sunday, Oct. 30 at 2 a.m., and the residents are to revert back to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

Long ago, Benjamin Franklin suggested that people wake up earlier to make better use of available light. Moreover, the idea allowed people to save candle wax. His concept was later on developed by a man named William Willett, who introduced the British Summer Time in 1907, which is now popularly known as Daylight Saving Time. The British started practicing Willett's concept on May 1916, which was a year after the inventor died.

Today, the concept is still being used by many states to utilize daylight during summer months. According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) of the U.S., the Energy Policy Act of 2005 lengthened DST by one month, but was ultimately created "in the interest of reducing energy consumption." U.S. Congress can still amend the law if DST becomes less practiced or when the energy-saving factor of DST proves to be insignificant.