As with many people, we are quickly trying to adapt to the end of daylight saving time (love it or hate it), which officially occurred at 2 a.m. Nov. 3, serving as a stark reminder that the days are getting shorter and shorter. 

As we set our clocks back an hour (and gained an hour of sleep), the question arose: Why does DST even exist in the first place?

Since passage of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, DST in the United States has begun annually on the second Sunday in March and concluded on the first Sunday in November. For 2025, DST will begin on March 9.

Of course, through the years there has been plenty of debate over the practice, but about 70 countries — about 40 percent of those across the globe — currently use what Americans call daylight saving time.  

Interestingly, back in the middle of the 19th century, there was no standardized time because it took so long to travel between long distances. 

However, with the advent of the train, which quickly connected nearly every corner of the country, travel times were cut significantly, but led to much confusion for passengers. This led the major railroad companies to begin the work to create a standardized time to increase efficiency and safety.

In 1918, the Interstate Commerce Commission was created to address concerns around solidifying plans to create a standardized time. This led to the passage of the Standard Time Act, which created five time zones for the United States — Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific and Alaska. 

DST was first created with the Standard Time Act, but was not mandatory. It was meant to help save energy during World War I.

In 1966, the Uniform Time Act established mandatory daylight saving time. The idea was to switch to DST during the time of year when days are the longest to save on energy costs and consumption. In 2005, Congress agreed to amend the Uniform Time Act to start daylight saving time from the last Sunday in April to the second Sunday in March, and from the last Sunday in October to the first Sunday in November.

According to USA Today, the amendment led to a reduction in 0.5% of daily energy consumed, translating to 1.3 billion kilowatts of energy annually.

Still, we can’t help but wonder if scientists might be right, as they —reportedly — generally advocate for permanent standard time because, they say, it better aligns people’s schedules with the sun year-round.