Copyright Staten Island Advance
With autumn settling in, many have noticed the sun setting earlier, making our days seem shorter. This prompts the question: When does Daylight Saving Time end? Daylight Saving Time will officially end on Sunday, Nov. 2, at 2 a.m. Clocks will “fall back” one hour to 1 a.m., giving everyone an extra hour of sleep. This biannual clock change tradition, known as “falling back” in November and “springing forward” in March, has been part of American life since the 1900s. Many credit Benjamin Franklin for developing the idea of Daylight Saving Time in his 1784 satirical essay, titled “An Economical Project,‘’ proposing that it would save energy and make better use of daylight. But it wasn’t until 1966 that the system of uniform Daylight Saving Time throughout the United States was established. While some welcome the extra hour of rest, the time change can disrupt the body’s natural day-to-night rhythms. A study by Stanford Medicine scientists, published in September 2025, suggested that the health effects go far beyond feeling tired the next morning. The researchers, Dr. Jamie Zeitzer and graduate student Lara Wee, examined how three different time policies: permanent standard time, permanent daylight saving time, and biannual shifting affect our circadian rhythms — the body’s 24-hour clock that regulates our sleep-wake patterns, hormone release, and alertness. They found that the biannual clock change is the worst option, as “changing clocks twice a year disrupts circadian rhythms, leading to higher rates of stroke and obesity.”
