Did You 'Fall Back?' Daylight Saving Time 2012 Is Over

We hope you enjoyed your extra hour of time this weekend, after Daylight Saving Time came to an end at 2 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 4

As a result, sunsets will be more of an afternoon thing than an evening thing for a while. Well, until it begins again on March 10, 2013, when we spring forward once again. Until then, the upshot is your 7 a.m. commute to work will have more light again.

When you change your clocks in the fall and spring, it’s also a good time to change smoke detector batteries and check to make sure device are in working order. What else you can do with that extra hour?

• Head over to the Southdale YMCA or LA Fitness to get a quick workout in with your spare time. 
• Listen to an audio replay of the Edina Hornets football team's big sectional playoff win against Blaine from this past Friday night.
• Cook up a pot of chili to enjoy while you watch the Minnesota Vikings take on the Seattle Seahawks at 3 p.m. Sunday afternoon.

Arizona, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, U.S. Virgin Islands and American Samoa do not observe Daylight Saving Time. Weird.

Around the world, about 75 countries and territories have at least one location that observes Daylight Saving Time, according to TimeandDate.com. On the other hand, 164 don't observe the time change at all.

A Brief History of Daylight Saving Time

According to the Huffington Post: 

Benjamin Franklin has been credited with the idea of Daylight Saving Time, but Britain and Germany began using the concept in World War I to conserve energy, the Washington Post observes. The U.S. used Daylight Saving Time for a brief time during the war, but it didn't become widely accepted in the States until after the second World War.

In 1966, the Uniform Time Act outlined that clocks should be set forward on the last Sunday in April and set back the last Sunday in October.

That law was amended in 1986 to start daylight saving time on the first Sunday in April, though the new system wasn't implemented until 1987. The end date was not changed, however, and remained the last Sunday in October until 2006.

Today, Daylight Saving Time begins on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November. The time change will precede the first day of spring and the vernal equinox, which is set to take place at 1:14 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, March 20.