Time to Fall Back as daylight saving time comes to an end for 2020

Daylight-saving time comes to an end for 2020 on Sunday, November 1 at 2:00 a.m. in much of the United States. Clocks will move back one hour as standard time starts its run.

The practice of having the time change started in the early 1900s as a way to make better use of daylight during the spring and summer months, so there is an extra hour of sunlight in the evening instead of the morning.

After numerous changes to the dates, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 gave the U.S. its current start and stop dates for daylight saving time. It starts on the second Sunday in March and ends the first Sunday in November.

That gives most states about 7.5 months of daylight saving time and 4.5 months of standard time.

Daylight saving time was first enacted by the federal government during World War I as a way to conserve coal. "Old time," as it was described in archives of the Delaware News Journal was reinstated after about a year, but daylight saving time persisted in various forms on local and state levels until the federal government passed the Uniform Time Act in 1966.

Today, the Department of Transportation oversees daylight saving time. The agency cites many reasons for daylight saving time, including energy reduction and reduced crime. In the days after the time change, accidents and health issues rise.

Many states have had votes on the future of changing times twice a year but they have yet to take affect. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine in August released a statement saying public health and safety would benefit from eliminating daylight saving time, according to USA Today. The organization said standard time more closely aligns with the daily rhythms of the body's internal clock.

Not every state follows daylight saving time. Hawaii and most of Arizona opt out.