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Current Time: What Time Is It?

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alarm clockHave you overslept? It’s Daylight Saving Time, meaning your clock should have jumped an hour ahead Sunday.

Luckily, most have digital clocks and phones that change the time automatically with Daylight Savings Time, meaning no oversleeping or tardiness, instead one less hour of counting sheep.

Daylight Saving Time kicked off March 11 at 2 a.m. with the clocks springing forward just in time for spring. Each year, DST takes place on the second Sunday of March with most of the United States turning clocks up at 2:00 a.m to avoid the disrupting things like bus schedules and store hours.

The time change gives one more hour of daylight in the evening and one more hour of darkness in the morning.

Although adjusting schedules to the sun has been a practice that dates back to ancient times, Benjamin Franklin is the man behind DST. Franklin reportedly suggested the idea back in 1784.

Franklin isn’t the only one credited for the DST concept, New Zealand entomologist George Hudson is also credited by many for Daylight Savings Time. His job gave him more leisure time and led him to value daylight, ultimately proposing a two-hour daylight-savings shift.

As we’ve previously reported, in the northern hemisphere, DST begins between March and ends in November. In November clocks will have to move back again—The United States Energy Policy Act of 2005 says Daylight Saving Time ends on the first Sunday of November.

DST isn’t observed by the entire United States, according to National Geographic, the federal government doesn’t require U.S. states or territories to observe Daylight Saving Time. Residents in states like Hawaii won’t need to change their time today.

For those who are still a little confused, here’s the current time:

New York