Daylight Saving Time Starts Sunday

Daylight Saving Time starts this Sunday, April 2, 2006, at 2:00 a.m.

Spring forward one hour, as the rhyme goes ....

Americans might want to note that this is the last April you'll be setting the clocks ahead: starting in 2007, DST starts in March - with the US joining the EU on their sun-saving schedule. The European Union starts saving sunshine on the last Sunday each March and stops on last Sunday each October. Unlike the United States, in Europe, all time zones change at the same moment.

Why do this? It saves energy, it's responsible for less car accidents, and people like it - polls show most folk like the extra daylight hours in the evening.

And, if you don't like it -- blame Benjamin Franklin. That's right: he advocated DST right along with electricity, glass harmonicas, cast iron stoves, libraries, lightning rods, and bifocals. Good Old Ben.

Here's the American schedule for the next three years:

Year/ Spring Forward/Fall Back
2006/ April 2/October 29
2007/ March 11/November 4
2008/ March 9/November 2

Note: Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Arizona do not participate in DST.

Source: timeanddate.com, webexhibits.com