WHY AMERICANS CAN'T SLEEP

Sleeplessness has a long and tortured history. A 15th-century Italian lawyer named Hippolytus de Marsiliis is said to have first documented sleep deprivation as a way to punish prisoners. (If you’re unconvinced by his cred, note that he is the same fellow credited with confirming the effectiveness of slow-drip water torture.) And he was only making formal what humans had known for centuries: Not getting enough sleep is painful.

http://www.consumerreports.org/sleep/why-americans-cant-sleep