Q 01/05

Which two-word mnemonic tells you which way to move the clocks?

A) Spring forward, fall back

B) Spring back, fall forward

C) Rise early, sleep late

D) March on, October off

Answer · why

A) Spring forward, fall back

Clocks jump ahead an hour in spring and drop back in autumn; the phrase works only in countries that call autumn 'fall'.

Q 02/05

Grammatically, which is the standard form of the term?

A) Daylight savings time

B) Daylight saving time

C) Daylight save time

D) Daylight-saved time

Answer · why

B) Daylight saving time

'Saving' is a participle describing the time, but the plural 'savings' is so common that many editors accept it.

Q 03/05

Which countries were the first to adopt daylight saving nationally, on 30 April 1916?

A) The United States and Canada

B) Britain and France

C) Germany and Austria-Hungary

D) New Zealand and Australia

Answer · why

C) Germany and Austria-Hungary

The aim was to conserve coal during the war; Britain followed on 21 May the same year.

Q 04/05

Which cities are recorded as the first in the world to enact daylight saving time, in 1908?

A) Sydney and Melbourne, Australia

B) Wellington and Christchurch, New Zealand

C) Berlin and Vienna, in the Central Powers

D) Port Arthur and Fort William, Ontario

Answer · why

D) Port Arthur and Fort William, Ontario

The two towns later merged into Thunder Bay; the idea reached national level in Europe eight years later.

Q 05/05

Franklin is often credited with daylight saving. What did his satirical 1784 Journal de Paris letter actually propose?

A) Taxing shutters and firing cannons at dawn

B) Moving all French clocks forward one hour

C) Abolishing candles by royal decree

D) A compulsory afternoon siesta

Answer · why

A) Taxing shutters and firing cannons at dawn

He never suggested touching the clocks; the essay was a joke about Parisians sleeping through the morning sun.