Origins of jetlag?
September 30, 2009 2:56 PM Subscribe
Who was the first person to ever get jet lag?
Response by poster: who was the first person to fly across multiple time zones?
I'm just wondering who was the first person to ever experience that feeling. And if it had been anticipated. Was it really only in the 'jet' era, or maybe back earlier ... Lindbergh? Even earlier?
posted by woodblock100 at 3:11 PM on September 30, 2009
I'm just wondering who was the first person to ever experience that feeling. And if it had been anticipated. Was it really only in the 'jet' era, or maybe back earlier ... Lindbergh? Even earlier?
posted by woodblock100 at 3:11 PM on September 30, 2009
According to this article I found by searching for "history of jetlag":
The history of jet lag began with the invention of jet aircraft, of course, there being no means of transportation fast enough to cause it before then. People crossing continents on horseback, or sailing across an ocean, did so too slowly to appreciate a time shift.
So, yeah, what Burhanistan said.
posted by katillathehun at 3:33 PM on September 30, 2009 [1 favorite]
The history of jet lag began with the invention of jet aircraft, of course, there being no means of transportation fast enough to cause it before then. People crossing continents on horseback, or sailing across an ocean, did so too slowly to appreciate a time shift.
So, yeah, what Burhanistan said.
posted by katillathehun at 3:33 PM on September 30, 2009 [1 favorite]
There's an easier way to get jet lag than flying.
Change the time on your clock.
The U.S. adopted daylight savings time in 1918, long before the invention of jet aircraft, although it was proposed decades earlier.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 3:40 PM on September 30, 2009
Change the time on your clock.
The U.S. adopted daylight savings time in 1918, long before the invention of jet aircraft, although it was proposed decades earlier.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 3:40 PM on September 30, 2009
The history of jet lag began with the invention of jet aircraft, of course, there being no means of transportation fast enough to cause it before then.
Not so. It takes about 1 day per eastward timezone to recover, so anything that can do better than that would be sufficient. In fact, propeller aircraft with sufficient range can easily go far enough and fast enough to cause jet lag. They don't predate jets, but theoretically even a modern passenger train could cause jet lag, if it traveled eastward or westward at a steady 200-300km/h.
But I suspect the first people to experience jet lag were commercial airline passengers rather than aviation pioneers. Mail service pilots and people like Lindbergh probably experienced it, but it was probably lost in the fatigue from having piloted the plane. The first transatlantic service on the Boeing 314 crossed the Atlantic from New York to Southampton in something over 12 hours, more than fast enough to induce jet lag.
posted by jedicus at 3:40 PM on September 30, 2009
Not so. It takes about 1 day per eastward timezone to recover, so anything that can do better than that would be sufficient. In fact, propeller aircraft with sufficient range can easily go far enough and fast enough to cause jet lag. They don't predate jets, but theoretically even a modern passenger train could cause jet lag, if it traveled eastward or westward at a steady 200-300km/h.
But I suspect the first people to experience jet lag were commercial airline passengers rather than aviation pioneers. Mail service pilots and people like Lindbergh probably experienced it, but it was probably lost in the fatigue from having piloted the plane. The first transatlantic service on the Boeing 314 crossed the Atlantic from New York to Southampton in something over 12 hours, more than fast enough to induce jet lag.
posted by jedicus at 3:40 PM on September 30, 2009
jedicus writes "It takes about 1 day per eastward timezone to recover, so anything that can do better than that would be sufficient."
With that criteria people on trains were getting jet lag as early as 1905.
posted by Mitheral at 4:07 PM on September 30, 2009 [1 favorite]
With that criteria people on trains were getting jet lag as early as 1905.
posted by Mitheral at 4:07 PM on September 30, 2009 [1 favorite]
A BoingBoing post on the history of Jet Lag has a broken link to an article in Air & Space. From the snippet, it would seem that the term & experience were still pretty new in the mid-1960s.
posted by iwhitney at 4:27 PM on September 30, 2009
posted by iwhitney at 4:27 PM on September 30, 2009
Ah, here is the article that BoingBoing linked to:
When did the term "jet lag" come into use?
posted by iwhitney at 4:29 PM on September 30, 2009
When did the term "jet lag" come into use?
posted by iwhitney at 4:29 PM on September 30, 2009
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by katillathehun at 2:58 PM on September 30, 2009