Happy Friday! If you're new to Now I Know, you'll notice that today's format differs from the rest of the week. On Fridays, I pause to write the "Weekender," my  "week in review" type of thing, or to share something else I think you may find interesting. Thanks for reading! — Dan

The Clock Strikes Back

Hi!

This weekend, the vast majority of the United States does something kind of strange: we all, collectively, decide to turn our clocks back an hour in the middle of the night. Daylight Saving Time is ending, and we’re reverting to Standard Time. As a result, the mornings will be a little bit brighter, but sunset will occur way, way, too early for most. (Sunset in New York City on Monday is 4:48 pm.)

So first, a PSA: Don’t forget to adjust your clocks before you go to bed on Saturday night! Many of our clocks now self-adjust — the ones in your phone, computer, and cable box typically do, and increasingly, so does the one in your car. Microwaves and other appliances, no so much, but the good news is that those aren’t typically the ones controlling the alarms that wake us up. But just in case, check your clocks.

And because this is a trivia newsletter, here’s some DST-related trivia.

There’s a good chance on Monday that you’ll have a conversation (or see one online) where someone bemoans the time change and asks: why don’t we just do DST year-round? In the U.S. at least, that was actually tried — and it was a disaster. (I think I’ve written about this before, but I couldn’t find the article, so I’m sharing this in the Weekender. In case you were wondering why this wasn’t a regular Monday-to-Thursday Now I Know, that’s why.) Here’s how Time Magazine summarized the history and issue:

Yep, it all comes down to the kids — it’s not worth saving a bit of energy if they can’t get to school safely.

If you want more DST-related trivia, you’re in the right place. In trying to find my write-up of the 1974 experiment, I found a lot of other stories I’ve shared — here you go!

The Now I Know Week In Review

Monday: Some Very Expensive Air: I would have titled the sculpture “Ceci n'est pas une pipe”

Tuesday: The Batman of Baltimore: He’s not really Batman, but he was definitely a hero.

Wednesday: Unwrapping a Halloween Mystery: Mystery Dum-Dums… what flavor are they? It depends.

Thursday: Nightmare on Sesame Street?: The Wicked Witch is scary!

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And thanks! — Dan

Long Reads and Other Things

Here are a few things you may want to check out over the weekend:

1) “Test Your Candy I.Q.” (New York Times/gift link, 8 minutes, October 2023). Yes, I know Halloween was yesterday, but this was still fun (and harder than I thought).

2) “The Toxic Wave That Swallowed a Tennessee Town” (Oxford American, October 2024). The subhead: “The night of the 2008 coal ash disaster in Kingston, Tennessee.”

3) “This photo of the National Mall captured the country in a decade. The real story behind it remained a mystery—until now.” (Washington Post/gift link, 11 minutes, September 2024). This is a wonderful story and I’m going to say nothing else because I can’t do it justice.

Have a great weekend!

Dan