There Was an Old Woman

Most of us learned in school that Benjamin Franklin presented Daylight Saving Time as a way to help farmers make better use of daylight. None of that’s true. Franklin once made a tongue-in-cheek reference to the idea while taunting the French. When England first suggested the idea in 1907 and the U.S. adopted it a decade later, it was in the hope of saving energy. We actually do save a bit on lighting our homes and offices. But we more than make up for it in the extra spending on things like gas and A/C. Farmers (and the rest of us) were told the change would be good for us; the “extra” daylight will help us feel healthier and happier. The opposite seems to be true. Every year there’s a spike in headaches, workplace accidents, and even suicides when we turn clocks forward or back. So if you really want to feel better, move to Arizona. Better yet, Hawaii.