Friday, March 7, 2014

Ben Franklin invented daylight savings; starts again Sunday

Be sure to "spring forward" on Sunday and turn your clocks ahead one hour as daylight savings time returns to the US.

Clock According to National Geographic Magazine, the American Founding Father Benjamin Franklin was one of the first to suggest turning the clock to make better use of sunlight.
Ben Franklin—of "early to bed and early to rise" fame—was apparently the first person to suggest the concept of daylight saving time, according to computer scientist David Prerau, author of the book Seize the Daylight: The Curious and Contentious Story of Daylight Saving Time.
While serving as U.S. ambassador to France in Paris, Franklin wrote of being awakened at 6 a.m. and realizing, to his surprise, that the sun rose far earlier than he usually did. Imagine the resources that might be saved if he and others rose before noon and burned less midnight oil, Franklin, tongue half in cheek, wrote to a newspaper.
"Franklin seriously realized it would be beneficial to make better use of daylight, but he didn't really know how to implement it," Prerau said. Read more»