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d Cities Gam n ra G 120 N. Wash. St. Grand Forks
701-775-8602
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MAY 3, 2014
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NUGGET OF KNOWLEDGE The word "clock" comes from the Latin clocca meaning bell. When large mechanical clocks were invented in the 14th century, they didn't tell time with a face and hands, but rather by sounding bells on the hour and then eventually on the quarter and half-hour. This time device was called a "clock" because it told time by sounding bells. O'clock, as in 12 o'clock etc., is an abbreviation for "of the clock" or "of the bells." Incidentally, clocca is also the same root that gives us "cloak" which is a coat that is shaped like a bell.
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Hwy. 81 North • Grand Forks, ND • Hours: M-F 8-8 • Sat. 8-6 • Sun. 12-5
DAYLIGHT SAVING (continued): • Willert wrote a pamphlet suggesting Britain set its clocks ahead in April, and behind in October. A bill introduced in Parliament in 1909 was ridiculed. However, World War I brought a dire need to conserve coal, and the “British Summer Time Act” was passed in 1916, one year after Willert died. It set the clocks ahead one hour in spring and back one hour in fall. The idea worked so well that Britain put its clocks ahead two full hours during the summers of World War II. • The U.S. followed suit and Daylight Saving Time was enacted for the first time in March of 1918 to conserve fuel for the war effort. It proved to be so unpopular, however, that it was repealed in 1919. It was reinstated during World War II. After the war, some places continued observing it and some didn’t. Those localities that did continue to observe Daylight Saving were not agreed as to which date to set the clocks forward and back again. This caused confusion among the broadcast industries, railroads, bus lines, and airlines. On a single 35mile stretch of highway between West Virginia and Ohio, a traveler went through seven time changes. • The transportation industry, led by Greyhound, lobbied hard to remedy the situation, and in 1966 Congress passed the Uniform Time Act. This law did not make Daylight Saving Time mandatory, but merely said that individual states needed to observe it (or not) on a uniform basis and all on the same date. • Daylight Saving Time is now observed in about 70 countries around the world. Note that it’s singular rather than plural—it’s not Daylight Savings Time, but Daylight Saving Time. A study done by the U.S. Department of Transportation estimated that our nation saves about 1% of its energy for every day DST is in effect. And maybe that makes it worth the effort for Americans to change three billion time pieces twice every year.