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                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, April 3, 1993                   TAG: 9304030239
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JESSICA MARTIN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

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DAYLIGHT TIME AN OLD IDEA

It's been called "fast time," "sham time," "zig-zag time" and, most commonly, daylight-saving time. It starts at 2 a.m. Sunday.

Ben Franklin is credited for coming up with the idea of daylight-saving time, but the notion was not tested until the 20th century.

In 1907, William Willet used the idea of saving time to write a book titled "Waste of Daylight.' His plan called for setting clocks back 20 minutes on each Sunday in April, which would add 80 minutes to the days by May. In October, the reverse would be enacted.

England simplified Willet's plan during World War I. People added an hour to the clocks to save energy.

The U.S. first adopted daylight-saving time in 1918, but it was repealed a year later, leaving many confused. Some people stayed on daylight-saving time while others switched to standard time.

Because times varied among the states - even, sometimes, among cities and counties - Congress passed the Uniform Time Act in 1966, declaring that all states must participate in daylight-saving time unless their legislatures provide for an exception. The law also says those participating had to begin and end daylight-saving time on the same days.

To conserve energy, the U.S. had an extended period of daylight-saving time in 1974 and 1975. In 1987, federal law set the time from 2 a.m. on the first Sunday in April until 2 a.m. on the last Sunday in October.

There are some areas that continue to exempt themselves, including Hawaii, Arizona and most of Indiana.

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