Bulgaria to Switch to Daylight Saving Time on March 31

The summer daylight saving time will be introduced in Bulgaria on March 31, the National Metrology Center announced.

At 3 am Bulgarian time on March 31, all clocks will be turned one hour forward until 4 am Bulgarian time on October 28, 2012. So, all who are in Bulgaria on March 31, should not forget to put the hands of their clocks one hour forward.

The winter and summer daylight savings time were introduced in Bulgaria in 1979 while they were introduced for the first time ever in 1908 in Great Britain to optimize the daylight hours.

Since 1981 European Community (EC) Directives have prescribed the start and end dates of summer time in member states. These are set as the last Sundays in March and October respectively.

The main idea behind this switch is to preserve energy by using natural light longer. Yet, the implementation of Daylight Saving Time has been fraught with controversy ever since Benjamin Franklin first conceived of the idea. Even today, regions and countries routinely change their approaches to Daylight Saving Time.