Important Dates In The History Of Clocks
B.C. 742 First authentic recorded mention of the sun dial. There is, however, evidence of use of the sun dial as early as 2,000 B.C.
B.C. 300 Toothed wheels for transmission of power attributed to Archimedes.
A.D. 330 Sand glasses known to be in use.
A.D. 885 Alfred the great used candles as "clocks."
A.D. 1368 Clockmaking in England started.
A.D. 1490 Mainspring invented by Peter Hele, or Henlein, a locksmith of Nurnburg. About this time the small domestic, or table clock made its appearance.
A.D. 1510 The first watch was made at about this time.
A.D. 1540 Screws made their appearance.
A.D. 1541 An astronomical clock was fixed in one of the towers of Hampton Court Palace.
A.D. 1581 Galileo, Italian Astronomer and Physicist, discovered the properties of the pendulum.
A.D. 1587 Watchmaking industry commenced in Geneva.
A.D. 1610 Glasses as protection for watch dial and hand introduced.
A.D. 1635 Enamel dials invented by Paul Viet of Blois, France.
A.D. 1657 Christiaan Huygens, a Dutch Physicist, made the first pendulum controlled clock.
A.D. 1666 The recoil anchor excapement, possibly invented by Dr. Robert Hooke between 1666 and 1667.
A.D. 1671 Pendulum suspension spring introduced by William Clement. The first known clock with anchor excapement made by William Clement.
A.D. 1675 Royal Observatory at Greenwich founded. Edward Booth ( Later Rev. Edward Barlow ) invented the Rack Striking Mechanism for clocks.
A.D. 1676 The concentric minute hand, with motion work similar to that in use today, was used by Daniel Quare, a famous London maker and others. Daniel Quare also made repeating watches about this time. The Second Hand is introduced.
A.D. 1704 Nicholas Facio, FRS, a native of Geneva, who settled in London, succeeded in piercing rubies and sapphires for use as jewelled bearing for balance staff pivots.
A.D. 1720 George Graham invented the dead-beat excapement for clocks. He also invented the mercurial compensation pendulum.
A.D. 1725 John Harrison invented the grid-iron compensation pendulum. George Graham invented the cylinder escapement.
A.D. 1765 Centre Seconds hand introduced. " Tell-tale" clocks invented by John Whitehurst, FRS, a celebrated clockmaker of Berby and London. (1713-1788)
A.D. 1840 Alexander Bain, an Edinburgh clockmaker, made the first electric clock.
A.D.1858 The British Horological Institute, an association of Clock and Watch Makers for the purpose of advancing the horological art, was founded. "The Horological Journal," the oldest periodical dealing with the craft, was stated.
A.D. 1865 Georges Frederick Roskopf developed the pin pallet escapement.
A.D. 1880 G.M.T. became the standard time for the whole of the United Kingdom.
Charles R. Sligh forms the Sligh Furniture Company
A.D. 1884 The meridian of Greenwich was adopted by international agreement as the zero or prime meridian from which the longitude of all places in the world is measured.
A.D. 1895 The first electric master clock and impulse dial system was invented by Frank Hope-Jones, F.B.H.I. Upon which all modern impulse clock systems are based.
A.D. 1900 Electric contacts are fitted to a Marine Chronometer for the purpose of impulsing secondary dials.
A.D. 1916 Summer Time first introduced.
A.D. 1918 The alternating current synchronous motor was first applied to clocks by H.C. Warren in the U.S.A., although the principle had been discussed as far back as 1895. Thus came the first "plug into mains" clock.
A.D. 1921 Study and development of the Quartz Crystal clock commenced by Dr. Warren A. Marrison, F.B.H.I. a Canadian who became an American citizen.
A.D. 1927 Howard C. Miller starts the "Howard Miller Clock Co."
A.D. 1937 Quartz Crystal clocks introduced at the Royal Greenwich Observatory.
A.D. 1955 Atomic Clock invented by Dr. L. Essen, O.B.E., F.B.H.I. National Physical Laboratory, Teddington.
A.D. 1960 Sligh purchases the Trend Clock Company and starts producing the Sligh Clocks.
A.D. 2006 The Sligh Clock Company announces that they will no longer manufacturer clocks.
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