Today is the beginning of Daylight Saving Time, time for moving the clocks one hour ahead. The exceptions are Arizona, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa. Credit for Daylight Saving Time belongs to Benjamin Franklin, who first suggested the idea in 1784. The idea was revived in 1907, when William Willett, an Englishman, proposed a similar system in the pamphlet The Waste of Daylight. The Germans were the first to officially adopt the light-extending system in 1915 as a fuel-saving measure during World War I. The British switched one year later, and the United States followed in 1918, when Congress passed the Standard Time Act, which established our time zones. This experiment lasted only until 1920, when the law was repealed due to opposition from dairy farmers (cows don't pay attention to clocks). During World War II, Daylight Saving Time was imposed once again (this time year-round) to save fuel.
The term "red-letter day" originates with the tradition of marking holy days in a church calendar in red. We use the term here to designate days of special significance in each month -- holidays, astronomical happenings, anniversaries of historic events, and days with memorable folklore attached. Information is drawn from the library of The Old Farmer's Almanac.
Every month you'll find a calendar of these "red-letter days" on the front page of Almanac.com.
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