When was the snooze button invented?
The first commercial snooze function appeared in 1956 on General Electric–Telechron's Snooz-Alarm clock. The 9-minute interval came from a mechanical gear constraint, not from sleep science.
Mechanical origins
GE-Telechron's Model 7H241 introduced the snooze in 1956 as a convenience feature. The clock's gearing only allowed for 9- or 10-minute intervals, and 9 was chosen arbitrarily.
Sleep science came later
The first systematic studies of sleep architecture (Dement and Kleitman) were just beginning in the same decade. The snooze interval was set before researchers understood that fragmented sleep brings no benefit.
Why it stuck
Once a default is set, it propagates. Today every smartphone alarm app inherits the 9-minute legacy — and so do its drawbacks.
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