Benjamin Franklin, when serving as U.S. minister to France, wrote an article recommending earlier opening and closing of shops to save the cost of lighting. In England, William Willett in 1907 began to urge the adoption of daylight saving time. During World War I the plan was adopted in England, Germany, France, and many other countries. In the United States, Robert Garland of Pittsburgh was a leading influence in securing the introduction and passage of a law (signed by President Wilson on Mar. 31, 1918) establishing daylight saving time in the United States. After World War I the law was repealed (1919). In World War II, however, national daylight saving time was reestablished by law on a year-round basis. National year-round daylight saving time was adopted as a fuel-saving measure during the energy crisis of the winter of 1973-74. In late 1974, standard time was reinstituted for the winter period. In 1987 federal legislation fixed the period of daylight saving time in the United States as the first Sunday (previously the last Sunday) in April to the last Sunday in October; it was expanded in 2005 (effective 2007) to extend from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November. Arizona and Hawaii do not use daylight saving time.
Process of setting aside a portion of current income for future use, or the resources accumulated in this way over a given period of time. Savings may take the form of bank deposits and cash holdings or securities. How much individuals save is affected by their preferences for future over present consumption and their expectations of future income. If individuals consume more than the value of their income, then their saving is negative and they are said to be dissaving. Individual saving may be measured by estimating disposable income and subtracting current consumption expenditures. A measure of business saving is the increase in net worth shown on a balance sheet. Total national saving is measured as the excess of national income over consumption and taxes. Saving is important to economic progress because of its relation to investment: an increase in productive wealth requires that some individuals abstain from consuming their entire income and make their savings available for investment.
Learn more about saving with a free trial on Britannica.com.
System for uniformly advancing clocks, especially in summer, so as to extend daylight hours during conventional waking time. In the Northern Hemisphere, clocks are usually set ahead one hour in late March or in April and are set back one hour in late September or in October. In the U.S., Daylight Saving Time begins on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November. In most of the countries of western Europe, it starts on the last Sunday in March and ends on the last Sunday in October.
Learn more about Daylight Saving Time with a free trial on Britannica.com.