Daylight saving time ends this weekend

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Daylight saving time comes to an end this weekend. 

It's time to change the clocks and smoke detector batteries again. Daylight saving time officially ends at 2 a.m. Sunday, so the clocks will jump back to 1 a.m. and you'll get to enjoy an extra hour of sleep.

But why do we even have daylight saving time?

If we go back to the 1700s, some sources credit Benjamin Franklin for being the first to suggest a time shift as a way to save candlewax. However, daylight saving time officially began in 1895 and was the brainchild of New Zealand scientist George Vernon Hudson and British builder William Willett.

But it didn't start in the U.S. until 1918, and then it went through many amendments and repeals throughout the 20th century.

In fact, at one point in the 1960s, because of all the different varying laws, if you drove from Moundsville, West Virginia to Steubenville, Ohio along Route 2, you technically went through seven different time zones going from point A to point B. So needless to say, it was very confusing and inconsistent.

The current setup we have with daylight saving time started back in 2007, which has it starting at 2 a.m. on the second Sunday in March and ending at 2 a.m. on the first Sunday of November.

Most recently back in March of this year, the Senate unanimously passed a bill to make daylight saving time permanent. But it has yet to move forward in the House.

Also, the correct name is "daylight saving time" not "savings."