Robert Dye, age 14, of Nashville, Tenn., for his question:

WHEN DID WE GET THE 40 HOUR WEEK?

Before the Industrial Revolution, most people worked on farms where the work day ran from sunrise to sunset. It wasn't until the 1930s that the five day, 40 hour workweek came into general practice.

During the Industrial Revolution of the 1700s and the early 1800s, factory operators used the sunrise to sunset schedule. But then by the late 1800s, the factory work for most ran on a six day week with 10 hour days.

This 60 hour week became the normal working period in both North America and Europe as we moved into the 1900s.

Before the turn of the century, however, labor had started its demands for an eight hour day. But the eight hour day did not become common until after World War I. The work week was six days long with 48 hours being normal for each week.

Today some labor leaders are talking about a standard 35 hour week. Some businesses already have dropped work time for their employees to this lower schedule. Also, today some businesses are on four day work weeks.