How many clocks did you have to set back in your house? Alot?Your cellular phones probably did it themselves, but the worst is sometimes the one in the car! For a while, none of the clocks in my house matched! Did you ever wonder when this started? Here's today's lesson:
The idea of daylight saving was first conceived by Benjamin Franklin. During a trip to Paris in 1784, Franklin wrote an essay called "An Economical Project". Some of Franklin's friends, inventors of a new kind of oil lamp, were so taken by the scheme that they continued corresponding with Franklin even after he returned to America.
The idea was first advocated seriously by London builder William Willett (1857-1915) in the pamphlet, "Waste of Daylight" (1907), that proposed advancing clocks 20 minutes on each of four Sundays in April, and setting them back by the same amount on four Sundays in September.
The idea was first advocated seriously by London builder William Willett (1857-1915) in the pamphlet, "Waste of Daylight" (1907), that proposed advancing clocks 20 minutes on each of four Sundays in April, and setting them back by the same amount on four Sundays in September.
As he was taking an early morning ride through Petts Wood, near Croydon, the builder was struck by the fact that the blinds of nearby houses were closed, even though the sun was fully up!
Willet wrote: "Everyone appreciates the long, light evenings. Everyone laments their shortage as Autumn approaches; and everyone has given utterance to regret that the clear, bright light of an early morning during Spring and Summer months is so seldom seen or used."
Willet spent most of the rest of his life trying to convince the government that Daylight Savings made sense. He died still being made fun of...
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