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