What Did People Do at 3 AM Before Electricity? | History for Sleep

What Did People Do at 3 AM Before Electricity? | History for Sleep Fall asleep to the forgotten history of the night. Before electricity, people across Europe slept in two parts, a "first sleep" and a "second sleep," with a quiet, wakeful hour in between. What did they do in those dark hours? Tonight we drift back a few hundred years, to a small English village under a wide evening sky. We cover the fire at the sound of the curfew bell, climb into a straw bed beside the whole family, and wake in the deep middle of the night, as our ancestors did, to tend the embers, pray, talk softly in the dark, and watch the moon through the shutters. Along the way we meet the night watchmen, the monks singing by candlelight, the bakers and shepherds and sailors who kept the night's quiet vigil, and the slow arrival of gas lamps and electric light that made the world forget this old rhythm of sleep. Slow, gentle narration for sleep, relaxation and quiet evenings. No mid-roll ads, so nothing will wake you. Sources and further reading A. Roger Ekirch, At Day's Close: Night in Times Past (2005) A. Roger Ekirch, "Sleep We Have Lost" (American Historical Review, 2001) Thomas Wehr, "In short photoperiods, human sleep is biphasic" (Journal of Sleep Research, 1992) The Rule of Saint Benedict Gilbert White, The Natural History of Selborne (1789) If these gentle evenings in the old world help you rest, subscribe to The Dreamlit Historian and join us again on another night. Tell us in the comments where you're listening from, and what the night is like outside your window. #historyforsleep #sleepstory #boringhistory