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Blame an entomologist from New Zealand and an English gentleman

Tonight time shifts back to standard time at 2 a.m., giving many an extra hour of sleep
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Tonight time shifts back to standard time at 2 a.m., giving many an extra hour of sleep for at least one night.

While that may be a gift to some, to many the nightmare of losing an hour in the spring outweighs any benefits gained by daylight saving time.

While many credit Benjamin Franklin for spawning the idea of saving daylight in the summer, historians agree he mentioned it as a jest and never thought it would catch on.

For two other men around the turn of the century it was no joking matter.

An entomologist from New Zealand by the name of George Vernon Hudson who wanted more daylight time in the evening to hunt bugs and an English gentleman by the name of William Willett who had a deep and abiding fondness for evenings in the outside air each worked to have the idea adopted in their native lands.

Hudson first suggested the idea to the Royal Society of New Zealand in 1895 and Willett brought it to the English Parliament in 1907.

Neither found a very warm reception for their idea saving daylight but it caught on in some places pretty early.

Northern Ontario was light-years ahead of the movement toward daylight saving when Thunder Bay became the first city in the world to adopt it in July 1908.  

Germany became the first country to legislate it in 1918 as a way to save money for WWI.

England adopted it soon after Germany also saying it was a measure to save money on candles, lamp oil and other artificial lighting and today 77 countries in the world use it. 

However, recent research is throwing some shade on the whole idea of saving daylight.

A study published by Open Heart says the incidences of heart attacks on the Monday morning after the spring switch to standard time increased 24 per cent.

Other studies say the amount of money saved by Daylight Saving Time is negligible and it may actually cost more in productivity than it saves in electricity.

Love it or hate it - don't forget to turn your clocks back an hour before you go to bed tonight - unless you are awake to change them at 2 a.m.

Also, don't forget to test your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and change the batteries in them if they run on batteries.


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Carol Martin

About the Author: Carol Martin

Carol has over 20-years experience in journalism, was raised in Sault Ste. Marie, and has also lived and worked in Constance Lake First Nation, Sudbury, and Kingston before returning to her hometown to join the SooToday team in 2004.
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