Seattle Masons

John's Lodge No. 9 is active in the Community. We have something in which every member can become involved which will help others. We find these things to be personally rewarding and continue to look for new opportunities to help. Our Secretary has put together an excellent treatise on which charities, organizations, and educational programs we support at the present time. Find out what the Lodge does to help our city and our community

03/09/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/17EzN6HMgJ/

The Day Benjamin Franklin Accidentally Started Daylight Saving Time

In 1784, Brother Benjamin Franklin—printer, inventor, diplomat, and Freemason—wrote a humorous essay while living in Paris.

In it, he joked that people could save a fortune on candles if they simply woke up earlier and used the sunlight instead of sleeping through it.

He even suggested firing cannons at sunrise to wake everyone up.

Yes… cannons.

Now to be clear, Franklin was not proposing changing the clocks.
He was poking fun at how much daylight people wasted by sleeping late.

But apparently somewhere along the line, someone read Franklin’s satire and thought:

"You know what… instead of cannons… let’s just move time itself."

Fast forward a century and now twice a year millions of people are wandering around half awake, trying to figure out if the stove clock, the microwave clock, and the truck clock are all the same time.

All because a Freemason made a joke about candles in Paris.

So the next time you lose an hour of sleep in March…

Just remember.

Brother Franklin probably thought the whole thing was hilarious.
To Read Benjamin Franklin’s 1784 essay on rising with the sun appeared in the Journal de Paris. go here: https://fi.edu/en/science-and-education/benjamin-franklin/daylight-savings-time #:~:text=Benjamin%20Franklin's%201784%20essay%20on,His%20conclusions?