No need for snooze bar Sunday
Don't forget to turn your clocks back one hour tonight, lest you show up for church or soccer games an hour early Sunday morning.
The "fall back" marks the end of Daylight Saving Time, a move traditionally made to provide an hour's more of light in the evening.
When it comes to this 89-year-old practice, all you really need to know is that it's happening this weekend.
But in case your thirst for knowledge is greater than your desire to sleep an extra hour, here are a few things to know about the sandman's favorite holiday:
• In 1905, prominent English builder William Willett - an avid golfer who hated cutting his rounds short at dusk -- proposed shifting clocks during the summer so people could make the most out of the sunniest season. He began lobbying tirelessly for the time shift, but it wasn't until World War I that his suggestion was embraced.
• Germany and its World War I allies first adopted the Daylight Saving Time in 1916. Most of Europe soon followed suit, though the United States and Russia did not embrace the time shift until 1918.
• A year after establishing Daylight Saving Time, the U.S. Congress repealed the law and made shifting a local matter. DST was reinstated during World War II, then modified again in 1966 to allow for local exemptions.
• In August 2005, President Bush signed a law that changed Daylight Saving Time dates. DST now begins the second Sunday in March and ends the first Sunday in November. Americans traditionally set their clocks back on the last Sunday in October.
• The recent law change is meant to squeeze just a little more daylight -- and perhaps a bit of energy savings -- into Americans' daily routines. The Secretary of Energy will report back to Congress as to whether the initiative worked.
• Clocks will change at 2 a.m., meaning at 1:59 a.m. they fall back to 1 a.m. It was originally selected as the changeover time to minimize disruptions as most people were already home and the fewest number of trains were running.
• Fire departments nationwide encourage people to change their fire alarm batteries when they change their clocks. More than 90 percent of homes have alarms, but one-third are estimated to have dead or missing batteries.
-- Stacy St. Clair