Daylight saving time ends Sunday

Daylight saving time for 2014 will end Sunday at 2 a.m., so unless you'll be rolling in from an epic Halloween party in those wee hours, it'll be best to set your clocks back an hour before turning in Saturday night.

It's also the widely recommended time to change the batteries in your fire and smoke detectors and test them to ensure they work properly. This mental association can help ensure that your warning devices are serviced and operational year-round.

Soon, many of us will be waking up in the dark and coming home from work in the dark too, as the time shift will be compounded by shorter days of winter.

A bit of history

The notion of daylight saving time is often attributed to Benjamin Franklin, who proposed rising an hour earlier in order to conserve candles, but it didn't take root until World War II, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt started what he called 'War Time' in an effort to save resources.

According to timeanddate.com, the law, which was in effect from 1942 to 1945, 'was enforced 40 days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and during this time, time zones were called 'Eastern War Time,' 'Central War Time,' and 'Pacific War Time.' After the surrender of Japan in mid-August 1945, the time zones were relabeled 'Peace Time.' '

But mass confusion ensued because states and municipalities were able to opt in or out -- until the Uniform Time Act of 1966 was passed. It's still not mandatory, but all states except Arizona and Hawaii participate, and more than 70 countries worldwide have adapted their own versions.

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