"I stayed up all night to see where the sun went.…

“I stayed up all night to see where the sun went. Then it dawned on me” is a joke that became popular on the Internet in the late 1990s, but is much older. “I have always wondered where the sun goes when it sets, so the other nite I sat up trying to figure it out,and it finally dawned on me” was cited in print in 1933.

15 April 1933, The Druid (Pittsburgh, PA), pg. 6, col. 2:
Patience Rewarded.
He—“What did you do last night?”
She—“Well, I often wondered where the sun went down at night and I stayed up and it finally dawned on me.”

18 May 1933, Marietta (GA) Journal,, “Humor,” pg. 7, col. 4:
I have always wondered where the sun goes when it sets, so the other nite I sat up trying to figure it out,and it finally dawned on me.

Google News Archive
14 April 1962, Deseret News and Telegram (Salt Lake City, UT), ‘Ted Cannon’s Scene Today,” pg. 2B, col. 3:
STRANGE TO SAY
I wondered where the sun goes when
It sets, beyond the view of men,
I pondered all night long and then —
It dawned on me.

Google News Archive
2 July 1978, Palm Beach (FL) Post-Times, “Friend’s Chatty Letter Is Clever Politicking” by Ron Wiggins, pg. C1, col. 2:
Like the sage sitting up all night wondering where the sun went, it dawned on me.

Google Groups: aus.jokes
The insomniac, agnostic and dyslexic ...
Mike
4/29/97
(...)
I stayed up one night wondering where the sun went; then it dawned on me.

Google Groups: comp.sys.cbm
Nonstandard Synch Lengths
John Iannetta
4/7/98
(...)
I stayed up all night, trying to figure out where the sun goes when it sets.
Finally, at about 6 AM, it dawned on me.

Google Groups: alt.silly.little.newsgroup
I worry to much
Cave Dweller
12/17/00
(...)
I laid awake all last night worrying where the sun had gone,
this morning it dawned on me.

Twitter
Craig Yeates
‏@mry8z
@Mylar Really? Cos last night I was watching the sun set, I spent all night wondering where the sun goes each night. then it dawned on me
12:54 PM - 1 Apr 2009

Twitter
MSMO Sites
‏@msmosites
This morning thing sucks. I was wondering where the sun was and finally it dawned on me.
7:19 AM - 29 May 2009

Twitter
Thelemic Waves
‏@ThelemicWaves
I was up all night wondering where the sun was… then it dawned on me!
9:13 AM - 1 Jun 2009