Spring Forward — Daylight Saving Time 2013 Begins Sunday

It's nearly time to "Spring Forward."

On Sunday, March 10 — officially at 2 a.m. — we'll set our clocks forward an hour, for daylight saving time. 

What that means is an extra hour of daylight to walk, run, skate or bike Urbandale's trails in the evening. Time for a game of tennis after dinner, or a game of catch with the kids.

You may have noticed the annual tradition of daylight saving time has crept forward a bit. We used to spring forward on the first Sunday in April and fall back on the last Sunday in October. But a couple years ago, Congress changed the date, adding more daylight saving time to the calendar.

This year, it will run from March 10 until Nov. 3.

Arizona, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands don't participate, but Iowa is all in.

Around the world, about 75 countries and territories have at least one location that observes daylight saving time, according to TimeandDate.com. But another 164 don't observe the time change at all.

Brief History:

According to the Huffington Post: 

Benjamin Franklin has been credited with the idea of daylight saving time, but Britain and Germany began using the concept in World War I to conserve energy, the Washington Post observes. The U.S. used daylight saving time for a brief time during the war, but it didn't become widely accepted in the States until after the second World War.

In 1966, the Uniform Time Act outlined that clocks should be set forward on the last Sunday in April and set back the last Sunday in October.

That law was amended in 1986 to start daylight saving time on the first Sunday in April, though the new system wasn't implemented until 1987. The end date was not changed, however, and remained the last Sunday in October until 2006.

Today, daylight saving time begins on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November. The time change will precede the first day of spring and the vernal equinox, which is set to take place at 1:14 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, March 20.

Not a fan of daylight saving time? Tell us why not in the comments section.