People in the United States will feel a bit more exhausted on March 11, as daylight saving time 2018 begins. The clocks spring forward at 1 a.m. local time on Sunday, robbing most states of an hour of sweet, sweet sleep in exchange for an extra hour of daylight during common working hours.
You’ve probably heard that Ben Franklin kind of proposed daylight saving time (also erroneously called daylight savings time) centuries before it was implemented, and that the twice-yearly switch was initially adopted to save us money on energy needs.
But if you dig deeper, you’ll find out that the daylight-hoarding tradition—which was adopted in the United States a hundred years ago—has an even more colorful history. Around the world, daylight saving time has been affecting international relations, creating nested time zones, and potentially influencing your health.
Here are a few of the lesser-known facts about daylight saving time.
THRIFT WASN’T THE ONLY REASON FOR SAVING DAYLIGHT
In 1895, George Hudson, an entomologist from New Zealand, came up with the modern concept of daylight saving time. He proposed a two-hour time shift so he’d have more after-work hours of sunshine to go bug hunting in the summer.
