03/08/2026
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CSRfSDbRp/
Philadelphians can blame one of their own for the idea that eventually became Daylight Saving Time. In 1784, while serving as a diplomat in Paris, Benjamin Franklin wrote a satirical essay in the Journal de Paris suggesting people wake earlier to use sunlight instead of burning expensive candles.
He even joked about ringing church bells and firing cannons at sunrise to get people out of bed.
Franklin never proposed changing clocks, but the seed was planted. More than a century later, scientists and reformers revived the idea, and during World War I countries began shifting clocks forward to conserve energy.
So every time the clocks jump ahead and you lose an hour of sleep, remember: the spark of it all started with a Philadelphia printer in Paris who simply thought people should stop wasting perfectly good sunlight.
