In mechanical watches and clocks, an escapement is a device which converts continuous rotational motion into an oscillating or back and forth motion, creating the familiar ticking noise. [Wikipedia.org definition of 'Escapement']

Just as human bodies rely on the heart to regulate overall function, some clocks and watches depend on their escapements for proper overall function. In the world of horology the escapement is a mechanism which is composed of a wheel and anchor, used to regulate periodic impulses with a pendulum or by a balance effect. Without the escapement, the clock wouldn’t work properly. Of course the “heart” of most modern clocks or watches today is the battery or electrical cord, which sends power to the popular device that replaced escapements: a resonator resembling a tuning fork, using quartz crystals and vibrations as regulation. While escapements are not nearly as popular today as they once were, they are still used in several time-keeping pieces.

Escapements are commonly used today in many decorative clocks. Tall stand-alone grandfather clocks, wall clocks with a pendulum and cuckoo clocks are all time-telling devices that often are still driven by an escapement. In the world of watches, the mechanical watch also uses an escapement today. These eye-catching wrist or pocket timepieces are intended mostly to flaunt or to match a person’s unique style since they are not extremely reliable with time-keeping. Even today escapement-driven timepieces are what most people would refer to as “temperamental,” meaning they inconsistently wind too slow or too fast; models requiring winding will stop altogether if they are not wound regularly. Since some escapements rely on gravity also, they tend to function differently at various altitudes.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet The Foliot

To better understand the escapement mechanism and exactly how it works, the history of this fascinating component and its evolution should be understood, beginning with the most simple version. Around the late 1200s, the first escapement was crafted, functioning by way of a bar called a foliot with a weight on each end. Another vertical bar called a verge has a plate at the top and one at the bottom on either side. Each plate takes turns pushing the foliot, alternating in the escape wheel’s path; the motion and force keep the action repeating. Because it has no exact regulation, the time shown on a clock with this escapement would be far from being reliably accurate.

It looks like an anchor...so why in the heck did they name it Anchor Escapement? Duh...

Robert Hooke introduced the anchor escapement in 1660. This was the beginning point of some form of consistency. Although it was still not completely reliable, it was seen as a great improvement. This type of escapement is made of a jagged wheel with a back-and-forth moving anchor above it, which is connected to a pendulum. Plates on the anchor then alternately catch onto the jagged wheel, causing the regulated movement.

Lever Escapement: can we lever with you?

The lever escapement was a common type of device used in watches for centuries. This type of escapement uses two separate wheels – a large wheel and a small wheel below it. Actually the smaller wheel is a round gear used to regulate the larger wheel, which has a bar across it. The movement is a back-and-forth motion regulated by an effect similar to a see-saw. While one side of the bar on the wheel moves up, the smaller gear wheel turns until the other side raises, as the first side lowers.

Detent Escapement - you know, like between the USA and Russia

In 1748 another famous escapement in history was invented by Pierre Le Roy: the detent escapement. Modified and utilized by several others in the future, this type of escapement was used in a few select precision watches and Marine chronometers. The detent is a detached escapement similar to the lever escapement with its separate wheel and also has a self-starting feature. Slightly an improvement over the lever escapement, the detent has less friction between the plate and escape tooth, making its accuracy improved in comparison with the lever escapement. The detent escapement was used through the mid-1900s before it was replaced.

Duplex Escapement: an escapement that lives right next door to its neighbor

Beginning in the late 1700s and lasting nearly a century, the popularity of duplex escapements increased. These frictional rest escapements are powered by a balance wheel receiving impulses. The escape wheel has two jagged teeth, with additional ones on the wheel sticking upward and outward. As one tooth leans against a disk, the wheel moves into the center, causing the tooth to be freed from the disk. The teeth then alternate on a roller as the process continues. As the wheel turns clockwise, the impulse tooth pauses on the roller without being released.

Gravity Escapements just like to hang around

In the 18th century, the gravity escapement gained popularity, using a weight or spring to send an impulse to the pendulum. There are two angle-planed arms, one each holding a deadbeat pallet. As one arm raises, a toothed escape wheel is released. One of the teeth then moves upward on the other arm’s angle face, causing the arm to raise. During this time the other arm drops to a lower level, sending an impulse directly to the pendulum.

Coaxial Escapement and no, it won't get you more TV channels

More recently in the 1970s and 1980s, the co-axial escapement came into the picture and gained popularity. George Daniels is credited with inventing this escapement which functions in a similar fashion to the lever and detent designs. The impulse is separated from the locking function by way of 3 pallets. Much more complex and intricate than its predecessors, the co-axial escapement does not experience sliding friction. Since friction is what causes the most wear and damage on escapement gears, this was Daniels’ main focus in crafting. At this point in history the quartz-powered clocks and watches had taken over, so escapement-driven clocks and watches were intended as novelties or sophisticated wrist and pocket decorations and not so much as a timepiece to depend upon for precise time-telling.

Escapement-driven clocks and watches are fascinating pieces to take the back panel off of and study.

Most people don’t realize all the intricate processes taking place behind the face of a pendulum clock or mechanical watch.

Certainly these clocks are not as accurate as those that are relied upon to know the exact time, but for any timepiece enthusiast these treasures are worth every cent for their amazing mechanical structure or nostalgic value.

Tags: anchor escapement, clocks, co-axial escapement, detent escapement, duplex escapement, escapement, escapement mechanism, escapements, foliot, gravity escapement, horology, lever escapement

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In the early 1900s a new trend started in the world of time-telling: radium clock dials.

With this revolutionary glowing dial, those who purchased a clock or watch could enjoy the luxury of knowing the time in a dark room or during the middle of the night. Numbers on the dial were painted carefully with radium paint, allowing them to glow for long periods of time. Not only were these attractive timepieces a convenience, but they also provided thousands of new jobs, mostly for women.

Young and old women and even some men were employed by radium dial companies to hand-paint the dials; they were offered attractive weekly wages that were double or triple what they could earn elsewhere. Everyone was purchasing these must-have clocks and watches – until the dangers of radium were discovered in a horrific way.

Discovered in 1898 by the famous Marie Curie, radium is a pure white radioactive earth metal chemical element which also has the capability of turning black when oxidized. Radium caused quite a stir after its discovery and soon after in 1902, an American named William J. Hammer invented the first radium-based paint. By mixing a tiny bit of radium with paint, he discovered that the mixture was beneficial when used on watch dials and devices used in science. Soon after this the popularity spread through Europe and Switzerland in the timepiece industry. Not until 1914 did the the trend catch in the United States, when the first radium dial company opened in Newark, New Jersey. Popularity of radium dial clocks and watches grew in leaps and bounds; to meet demands many new companies opened and immediately each one hired plenty of new workers.

Radium, as it appears as item number 88 in the Periodic Table of Elements.

Young and old women and immigrants were enticed by the entrepreneurs who were eager to make a fortune by offering them a job painting radium dials. Without any knowledge of radium or radioactivity, these women and immigrants happily showed up for work every day, often painting over 100 dials. They were taught to lick the end of their paintbrush before carefully painting the tiny numerical digits on the dials. By licking the brushes they were ingesting small amounts of radium with each lick.

One of the most common types of paint used was called Undark. This paint consisted of zinc sulfide and radioactive radium. Ingested by thousands, this paint was used between 1917 and 1938 by the United States Radium Corporation. The few women who were skeptical about the paint were lightheartedly reassured by the supervisors that the paint was harmless and some were even told it would help their complexion, so some painted their nails and faces for fun; they were soon to find this statement was horribly untrue.

Undark Advertisement - an old ad for Undark Radium Paint for clock faces

In 1917 just a few years after the first U.S factory opened, the workers who painted dials soon found themselves suffering from the effects of radium poisoning. During their employment at the radium dial factories, they were unaware that many of the factory owners actually knew the radium was dangerous and were frequently and secretly testing their workers for levels of radioactivity. Those who tested positive for radioactivity were not informed.

Known in history as “The Radium Girls“, five of several affected women in Orange, New Jersey filed suit against The United States Radium Company in which they had worked. Various effects were seen in the women who became radioactive; anemia set in first, often followed by bone fractures and jaw deterioration called Radium Jaw.

In the condition known as Radium Jaw, both the upper and lower jawbones would deteriorate and grow tumors, causing facial distortion, loss of teeth, gum tissue and even sections of the jawbones. One woman named Peg Looney contracted radium poisoning in 1925 and again three years later, but her family was unaware of this until after her death in 1929. They recounted episodes in her last years where she would actually pull pieces of her decaying jaw and teeth from her mouth with ease. While the term “Radium Girls” refers to those employed by the factory in Orange, New Jersey, many other workers all over the world died of radium poison’s effects.

By 1930 radium dial painters were ordered not to paint their fingernails or skin with the radium and more importantly not to lick their paintbrushes to sharpen them. This practice soon showed the rates of poisoning to decrease and incidences had diminished completely by 1950. The sale of radium dials fell after news of this harmful substance spread, but they were still manufactured and sold. In fact, timepieces with radium dials were still made for years after, but not in as large of numbers. When word spread about radium, many consumers refused to purchase these clocks and watches anymore. Any dial made with radium after 1950 was marked with “Ra” or “R”, indicating the presence of radium paint on the dial.

Thankfully, today radium dial timepieces are something no longer found on store shelves!

Some antique dealers may carry these items but if they are aware of the radium, they usually keep them in glass cases where they’re safe. The only place to find them regularly is on sites such as eBay, where a small handful of auctions may be found for vintage radium clocks and watches sometimes. Only timepiece collectors usually buy these items, as cleaning them may be very difficult. Most radium paints used on these clocks have a life of about 40 to 50 years before the paint crumbles and becomes a powder which is harmful if swallowed or inhaled; the fine dust coming off the face of an open radium dial would be a hazard to any human.

Those who are concerned about radium dial timepieces should wait before throwing out any and every glowing clock or watch – not all glowing dials are harmful. But if you’ve done you’re research about radium clock dials and have read this article and followed our advice, and you still suspect that a clock of yours has a radium dial, then please, be on the safe side and have it disposed of!

Radium dials may be identified by how long they glow for. Even the dust and powder from decayed paint will glow.

To test a dial for radium, a person should leave the dial facing direct light, then shut the light off and check the dial frequently. While most glowing dials only glow for a short time, radium clocks may glow for hours afterwards. If a clock or watch has cracked letters or a decrepit look to the paint on the letters, it should also be disposed of.

Should the timepiece break and the powder be allowed to spill, the dangers of cleaning it up are more than the timepiece is worth. Disposal of radium must be done by contacting your local hazardous waste department.

Editorial Cartoon about the Radium Girls from the American Weekly, February 28, 1926

Those who choose to keep their radium dial clocks for nostalgic value should keep them in sealed plexi-glass casings in a safe location.

We at the Online Alarm Clock were sad during our research into this particularly dark hour in clock history.

Our sympathies go out to all the friends and family of The Radium Girls and anyone else who’s been affected by radium poisoning! We hope their undeserved deaths will not become forgotten.

Tags: clock history, radium clock dials, radium dial company, radium dial painters, radium dials, radium girls, radium jaw, radium paint, radium poisoning, undark, united states radium corporation

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What are mantel clocks and why is it that Online Clock has Mantel Clock Fever today?

Well, ever since the mid-1700s, mantel clocks have been a popular accessory adorning the tops of fireplaces.

Mantel: the shelf above a fireplace which may be also a structural support for the masonry of the chimney (source: Wiktionary.org)

The French are credited with designing the first mantel clocks. When most people hear “mantel clock”, they think of a round clock face encased in a setting with sides that taper to a lower height than the face of the clock. While this design of mantel clock has long been one of the most popular and timeless styles, the original mantel clocks looked much different.

Some of the first mantel clocks were influenced by the original chamber clock design.

Behold the Chamber Clock, cousin of the Mantel Clock!

Chamber clocks are best described by keeping the classic cuckoo clock style clock in mind, but without the emerging characters serenading at the top of the hour. Similar to this style, ornate chamber clocks generally hung on the wall and had long weight chains that had to be pulled to regulate them. This style was popular until the early 1700s and was soon after replaced by mantel clocks. Early mantel clocks were very ornate, often including not only the clock in its designed casing, but also two matching decorative panels or artifacts to place on either side of the central clock piece. Another popular early design included all three of these elements, but each of them were situated upon the paws of a lion (which sounds very cool…a lion guarding your home).

With the dawning of the 19th century, houses were built with more consideration toward appearance and practicality, rather than practicality alone. Because of this, homes usually featured a sitting room or parlor with a large fireplace. By this time mantel clocks were at the height of their popularity. Nearly every home had some form of this stylish timepiece sitting above the fireplace.

While ornate designs with complementing separate panels were still commonly found, mantel clocks began to branch out into many styles. Although countless personalized and trendy designs were sought, the French Empire style mantel clock always remained an elegant classic. This style is still found today, appreciated for its timeless beauty boasting intricate eye-catching details.

Please meet the very extroverted French Empire Mantel Clock.

During the early 19th century most mantel clocks were either 8-day weight-driven or pendulum driven. One design that gained popularity not only as a mantel clock, but a convenient portable clock was the carriage clock.

Small in size and encased in a glass container, a carriage clock had a handle on the top of the case for easy toting. Many of the carriage clocks were powered by means of a platform escapement. In addition to being used upon the tops of fireplace mantels, the carriage clock also inspired smaller encased designs for mantel clocks. The difference between the two was that the mantel clocks derived from this style were made of more delicate materials, featuring significantly more ornate designs and were usually not suitable for traveling because of their delicacy.

Carriage Clock: forerunner of the Travel Alarm Clock ?!

When the mid-1850s began, mantel clocks were found in every size, shape and form. Some mantel clocks were designed as miniature grandfather clocks. Clock faces set in carefully crafted and carved casings sprawling the entire length of the mantel were a coveted item of luxury. During this time period, simple round clock faces set in metal, porcelain, wood or glass sculptures were becoming popular. Some designs featured figures such as a horse attached to a carriage with the clock’s face as a wheel, while others included two sweet-faced porcelain cherubs looking lovingly at the clock face they appeared to be holding up. Nearly any personalized design a person could think of would happily be crafted by any timepiece craftsman for the right price.

One of the most well-known mantel clock craftsmen of the 19th century was an American man named Simon Willard. Before the 19th century, he crafted a “shelf clock” which also influenced the evolution of styles among smaller mantel clocks.

Ahoy, mateys! It's Simon Willard's Lighthouse Clock

Perhaps one of the most revolutionary styles of mantel clocks created by Simon Willard was the Lighthouse Clock. This style reflected that of a lighthouse and served as a decorative piece, but was also the first alarm clock made in the United States. Powered by an eight-day weight and pendulum, this clock became a hot commodity quickly in 1818, maintaining its popularity for a little over ten years for the dual features. Willard’s mantel clock designs continued to be highly coveted for many years, as were the clocks of his equally talented brothers.

Another famous craftsman of mantel clocks during this era was Seth Thomas. Most of his designs were tower, box and pillar clocks for mantels. Ansonia, Eli Terry and Waterbury were also timepiece producers well-known for quality mantel clocks with attractive designs. While the Swiss and French are credited with the invention of many stylistic and technological revolutions in timepiece history, the majority of mantel clock sales were afforded to American companies and craftsmen, who seemed to produce the widest variety of popular designs.

Today mantel clocks are still sold and purchased throughout the world, mostly as a novelty.

With the coming of electric and gas heat, fireplaces became less popular in home designs; coupled with the popularity of cheap wall clocks growing, mantel clocks became even less common.

Mantel Clocks have dwindled in number because their natural habitat has largely disappeared (i.e., fewer & fewer homes have fireplaces).

Most mantel clocks today reflect the simple timeless tapered style mentioned earlier, powered by batteries or electricity and regulated by quartz. Modern mantel clocks may be found for as low as $30 and upwards of $1,000 for intricate designs made with precious materials.

Clock collectors and antique lovers still appreciate the beauty and value of these timeless timepieces of days past.

Some mantel clocks are in fact very valuable on the antique market today.

Clocks crafted by Simon Willard or his brothers are some of the most valuable, often priced above $5,000. Seth Thomas designs are next in the line of most sought-after antique mantel clocks. Ornate early French designs from independent craftsmen and the famous original French Empire designs are also very valuable today, often priced over $1,000. The glory days of the mantel clock fever may be over, but they are still a very valuable and attractive conversation piece for those who appreciate a unique time-telling device.

Tags: alarm clock, carriage clocks, chamber clocks, french empire style clocks, lighthouse clock, mantel clock, mantel clock fever, mantel clocks, online clock, platform escapement, seth thomas, simon willard, timepieces

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Clocks and watches aren’t only functional. They’re also fashionable. The fashion world moves very quickly. Hemlines are up and then they’re down. Pointy-toes shoes are here and then they’re gone. Wine is the color for fall while orange is the color for spring. Things, tastes, and trends change so rapidly that they’ll make a person’s head spin.

That’s another reason to like clocks and watches. They’re classically fashionable. If one were to do an internet search seeking information on fashion trends in watches, they would come up pretty much empty handed. (Seriously, try it. You’ll get hit with a bunch of websites that are trying to sell you “fashion watches”. Hey! What are you doing? Don’t click away from this page. Open a new tab in your browser. Back? Good. We tried to warn you.)

Although watch fashion trends are slow moving, they do exist. If you read the blog entry about the hourglass, you’ll know there are some historians that believe the people in ancient Athens carried portable hourglasses. This could be considered the first “watch” trend if one defines a watch as a timepiece carried upon the person.

Ladies & Gentlemen, we give you: The Watch Fob

The pocket watch is commonly believed to be the first watch trend. These beautiful round timepieces tend to get passed down from father to son time and time again. The pocket watch dates back to the early 1500s, but is typically associated with the 1600s through the early 1900s. 300 years is a long time for a metaphorical hemline to remain the same height. We mentioned that pocket watches are typically passed form from father to son not mother to daughter. There’s a masculine feel to pocket watches. They’re not usually associated with women; however, during the heyday of pocket watches, women wore them! They didn’t wear them with a chain running from their waistcoat to their pocket as we often visualize someone wearing a pocket watch. Women wore them with decorative watch fobs (straps of leather or cloth) attached to the watch and looped around a belt or their wrist or some other article of clothing. These fobs started out as a means of protecting the, usually, engraved top of the pocket watch or the crystal over the face. The protective function of the fob fell to fashion and fobs became more decorative than functional.

The watch chains connected to pocket watches were functional and fashionable. Sometimes the end of the chain not connected to the pocket watch went through a button hole to help prevent the pocket watch from being dropped. The ring on that end of the chain would often carry some type of charm or trinket. These charms were usually decorative winding keys and sometimes vesta cases or cigar cutters. These eventually transformed from functional attachments to decorative charms.

Within the realm of pocket watches, two sub-cultures of fashion emerged. The first and most commonly remembered were the train conductors. When we visualize a train conductor, we see a man in a sharp suit with a chain running over his waistcoat and a pocket watch in his hand. Train conductors needed their pocket watches handy and stable. No one wanted to drop a pocket watch near the rails of an oncoming train. Train conductors started the trend of attaching the chain of a pocket watch to the button holes of a waistcoat. This style became so popular that tailors would add an extra button hole for the purpose of holding the chain.

Pocketwatch chains were known as "Alberts" in the UK, named after Prince Albert, who supposedly wore one. The chains were affixed to the buttonholes in vests like the ones pictured above.

The second sub-culture of fashion in regards to the pocket watch emerged out of the medical field. Sir John Floyer was obsessed with the pulse. He was a doctor in the late 1600s and early 1700s and grew increasingly frustrated with the limits of contemporary timepieces in relation to their ability to time the human heartbeat. He tried various types of hourglasses and timepieces, but couldn’t find anything that worked appropriately. He contacted the legendary horologist Samuel Watson and together they created The Physician’s Pulse Watch (not to be confused with the two volume publication by Sir Floyer). This watch contained a very important third hand now called the “second hand“. John Fitter invented a watch with a second hand in 1665, but it was more or less ignored. The “pulse-watch” as created by Watson and Floyer became very popular with physicians.

Samuel Watson's Physician's Pulse Watch: one of the world's first commercially available stopwatches?

The Physician’s Pulse Watch was invented in 1695 and became commercially available in 1707. This watch contained an important element that John Fitter’s watch lacked. The “pulse-watch” contained a lever that would stop the time. It is considered by many to be the first stopwatch. (Our researchers are working on the history of the stopwatch and they’re already arguing with the idea of the “pulse-watch” being the first stop watch. Once we’ve gathered that data, we’ll present it to you.) It might not be the first, but it certainly is a direct ancestor of the modern “split second stopwatch”.

Eventually the pocket watch fell to the wristwatch. The first wristwatch was actually a pocket watch. Blaise Pascal, mathematician and philosopher, attached a piece of string to his pocket watch and tied it to his wrist. Pocket watches stayed in fashion so very long in part due to the disdain of “wristlets”. “Wristlets” are what we’d call wristwatches. These were considered very feminine and were a part of the attire of a woman. No self-respecting man would wear a “wristlet”. This changed when war broke out.

It’s not unusual for war to influence and change fashion. There are people today who remember when women who didn’t wear nylons were “floozies” until Uncle Sam needed the nylons for the war effort. Something only “floozies” would do became a patriotic duty and women everywhere drew lines up the backs of their bare legs so they could still keep the look of nylons without needing to wear them. The Anglo-Boer War in South Africa changed womanly “wristlets” into manly wristwatches. British soldiers wore watches on their wrists to help keep the war effort accurate and precise. When the soldiers returned home, they kept the habit and the trend spread.

In 1906, a stretchy wristband was added to the wristwatch in order to ease sizing concerns. During WWI (1914-1919), wristwatches were practically a required part of Allied uniforms. The demand for wristwatches was through the roof and Rolex was there to see it and profit from it.

In the second half of the 1900s, wristwatches became a more profound fashion statement. The 1980s brought two trends with watches. The first was the digital watch, but that wasn’t enough. The digital watch with a tiny calculator was a must have for any budding computer geek or math student. These tiny calculators with impossibly little buttons stood out on wrists like no other watch except the Swatch Watch.

The Swatch Watch threw functionality out the window and embraced fashion. The faces of these watches were sometimes impossible to read, but could be used to complete any outfit.  People would wear several swatches at one time. They’d have watches lined up on their wrists, but would still need to ask someone else to tell them the time of day.

Swatch Watches were a fun and whimsical fashion fad and one that some of us would love to see return.

In the modern day of clocks on our cell phones, on our desktops, and alarm clocks online, do we still yearn for whimsical clocks and watches?

What might come next, in the world of clocks as fashion statements, you might ask? Could it be that we’ll come full circle, and that the hourglass, one of the earliest kinds of clocks, might even make a reappearance…this time in a digital version?

Well, whatever happens next in the world of clocks and fashion, one thing’s for sure:  the Alarm Clock Blog will be here writing about it.

Tags: clock fashions, clocks, clocks and watches, fashion, physician's pulse watch, pocket watch, portable hourglasses, pulse watch, swatch, watch chains, watch fashion trends, watch fobs, wristlets, wristwatch, wristwatch fashions

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Previously on the OnlineClock.net blog, we took a look back through history at some famous dates and times and made note of some of the critical events that have helped shape our culture and world. That blog post sparked a lot of “where were you when…” conversations around our offices and homes, but it also birthed one pressing question: What did the people of yesteryear talk about?

Approximately 18 billion years ago, there was an astronomical event that set this whole world in motion. Between the time of that Big Bang and today, several millennia of history has passed. This blog post isn’t about what our grandparents spoke about. This post isn’t a bit of nostalgia for your great-grandparents. This blog post is about historic events that our ancestors remembered and that we still talk about. We put out heads together and thought about history and the repercussions of certain critical events.

We collectively thought about the “death of thought” in 399BC when Socrates was forced to drink Hemlock tea. Socrates challenged the establishment. He was beloved by some and the disdain of others. The lessons he offered are still being taught, debated, and discussed today. One can only imagine what other intellectual gems would have come out of his mind in 400BC had he been allowed to live.

The death of a single man, although a great one, is oft remembered by academics and others and yet a devastating earthquake that hit Northern Africa in 217BC is barely a blip on anyone’s radar. This earthquake destroyed 100 cities and killed approximately 50,000 people. Even without modern technology an event of this magnitude would have been discussed all over the world.

It's Julius Caesar, please. Don't call him Orange.

Sometimes the death of a single man is felt all over the world especially when one factors in the imperialistic tendencies of ancient societies. Abraham Lincoln wasn’t the only leader who should have skipped the theatre. In 44BC Julius Caesar fell to the blades of rival and jealous senators while he held an unread parchment that contained a warning of the devious plot. (Alanis Morissette has nothing on Julius Caesar when it comes to irony.)

Rome never properly recovered from Caesar’s death and the social structure of the society was in shambles when the stadium collapsed in 27AD. Anywhere from 20,000 to 50,000 people died because a contractor cut some corners on the foundation of the stadium. To this day, civil engineers will look to that historic note as a reminder to do things right the first time. The Roman engineers learned their lesson in just enough time to have the city wiped out by a massive fire in 64AD.

History is littered with important events that fascinate scholars. The eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79AD was an ancient tragedy and a modern goldmine for archeologists. In the third century, the library in Alexandria transmogrified from “intellectual Mecca” to rubble.

The real Mecca experienced a brutal massacre in 930AD when a Muslim reformist sect, “Karmathians”, rebelled against the orthodox ruling class. 30,000 people were killed during that attack.

Genghis Khan: Some say he knew how to party.

For centuries, natural disaster, assassination plots, and crusades filled our history books with death and destruction. Genghis Kahn dominated the late 1200s with his expansive “you’re either with us or against us” leadership style. His armada bore witness to a moment in history that ingrained itself in our language. Most of us don’t realize that a modern word came from August 14, 1281. Khan had taken over most of the mainland. He had a massive empire under his thumb, but he wanted an island that had eluded his blade. An armada of about 900 ships and 40,000 warriors set out to conquer Japan. A plague spread over the Mongol ships and reinforcements arrived in June. Over three thousand ships battered Japanese fortifications. The Japanese fought back as best they could even though they were at a technological disadvantage and were grossly outnumbered.

On August 14, 1281 a “divine wind” (AKA “kamikaze”) coated the waters off the coast of Japan with a fine mist. The winds picked up and the seas turned rocky. Kahn’s armada found themselves fighting during an epic typhoon. Once the kamikaze subsided only about 200 ships were seaworthy enough to limp back to the mainland. In a few more centuries a man-made “divine wind” would be used to attack Pearl Harbor. Whenever we reference kamikaze pilots or kamikaze tactics, we’re remembering Genghis Kahn.

To the batcave! It's Vlad the Impaler.

Another historic moment and figure that seeped into our culture when we weren’t looking was a young prince. On April 2, 1459, a young prince entered a small town and ordered his soldiers to start impaling people and those were the prince’s orders on a good day. The atrocities birthed from the mind of Vlad II (better known as “Vlad the Impaler“) served as the inspiration for Bram Stoker’s fictional vampire Dracula. Bram Stoker’s Dracula is the sine qua non of modern day Vampiric lore. On many levels it’s rather tragic to know that the current “sparkling” love-sick Vampires of modern fiction are a descendant of a man who’d nail hats to heads when people would refuse to remove them or host a banquet surrounded by burning and impaled victims.

Vlad II isn’t the only historic figure or event that has been watered down to a punch line in history. An event that began in 1478 fed Monty Python an unexpected joke. It’s an unexpected joke, because “Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!” For hundreds of years, people were tortured and questioned in a world-wide “Torquemada”. Torture as a means of gaining confessions has, sadly, not fallen out of fashion.

The Inquisition, regrettably, wasn’t the only time someone tried to wipe out an entire religious group. The German Holocaust of course killed millions and millions of Jews and must never be forgotten.

It’s impossible to cover all of history in a single blog post. It’s not even possible to cover all of the events that have modern day ramifications. The Irish Potato Famine resulted in numerous deaths and birthed a strong Irish culture that’s still alive in the USA. When Castro gained power in Cuba, the USA gained Cuban enclave communities.

These are some of the historic events that are still remembered and felt centuries after the fact. We like to just call them “Famous Dates And Times in Ancient History“.

The steadfast hands of clocks keep ticking.

They keep circling the numbers and march on into the future.

Pages of calendars flutter past and all we can do is gaze at our clocks and wonder: what will be remembered in the year 2500 or 3000?

Will we still be talking about the terrorists attacks on September 11, 2001?

Will we be talking about the earthquake in Haiti or China? Will there be a plague, famine, or vicious dictator that forever shapes history?

Let’s all pull together and hope that our great-great-great grandchildren remember the cure for cancer and AIDS just as we remember September 28, 1928 when Sir Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin!

Whatever soon-to-become famous dates and times come at us in the future, rest assured that the Online Alarm Clock will be here to show you the time and wake you up or remind you.

P.S. – The image at the very top of this blog post and the one below are of course taken from the cartoon segments with Mr. Peabody & Sherman from the old Rocky & Bullwinkle T.V. Show. We hope that at least some of you remember their hilariously cool journeys back in time with their Wayback Machine! They’ve served as our inspiration for this blog post.

Tags: clocks, famous date, famous dates and times, genghis kahn, holocaust, julius caesar, kamikaze, karmathians, mt. vesuvius, rome stadium collapse, socrates, torquemada, vlad the impaler

• Your Wristwatch Is Calling
• Your New Job as Human Alarm Clock
• Wild About Wall Clocks
• Why Do Swiss Clocks Rule?
• What’s the Deal with Clockwise?

Perhaps everyone has seen an old photograph or movie featuring a man standing outside a train depot awaiting a train. Sporting a curly-mustache, top hat, suit and shiny shoes he pulls out a shiny gold object, rubbing it on his coat and checks the time. Pocket watches were once an item that owners took great pride in possessing. Now these treasures are either found only in antique shops or as a novelty in a jewelry store.

Where did pocket watches come from and why were they so popular?

Lets take a look at the history of these fascinating but antiquated timepieces.

Peter Henlein, a German locksmith from Nümberg, Germany crafted the first pocket watch in the early 1500′s. The first pocket watches were very large. Those who have noticed modern rap artist Flavor Flav wearing a large clock around his neck should picture something slightly smaller than that. The initial pocket watches were shaped more like a globe or cylinder. Because of their size, they had to be worn around the neck, suspended by a chain. The reason these watches were so bulky was because scaling down the size of elements needed for timekeeping pieces had not yet begun. These early watch designs functioned by means of verge escapement, meaning that the time-telling functions yielded intense friction. Coiled springs were also used in these early models. Springs would tend to unwind at different varying rates, resulting in significant inaccuracy of time-telling.

The oldest functioning pocket watch today is one of the most valuable pocket watches on earth. Believed to have been made by Peter Henlein himself, it is one of only five in a series and the only one of the series that survived past WWII. There is a video on YouTube of this amazing timepiece which you can watch below:

By 1650 almost all pocket watches were able to actually fit in a pocket (!).

During the early years of the pocket watch, many pieces were crafted by the help of a jeweler and blacksmith. Many pocket watches were created upon request of a wealthy customer, hence the high price they had to pay. LePine and Frederic Japy were well-known quality pocket watch craftsmen in the 1700s. Due to the length of time involved in crafting a pocket watch at that time, most pocket watches were made by individuals rather than clock companies.

Clock companies did produce some pocket watches, but very few as most time was devoted to (normal) clocks. Because clock companies did not regularly market pocket watches before the 1850s, their value was much higher. Ads in newspapers often offered substantial rewards for those who found a lost pocket watch and returned it to the owner. These accessories, often donning a cover made of brass, gold or silver, almost invariably required frequent winding. Some pocket watches even had a small crank similar to that found on a musical jewelry box, while others had to be wound by a small key. The pocket watch had a chain that was pinned to clothing or looped through a button-hole to suspend it. Watch craftsmen had discovered that the rate at which coil springs unwound was closely related to how tight the watch itself was wound. Most early pocket watches needed to be wound twice a day to function optimally (what a pain, huh?).

During the 1800s the use of pocket watches in the railroad industry increased. The importance of the pocket watch was crucial to traveling engineers. As several of the dominating railroad companies expanded and began crossing tracks, there was a demand to keep an eye on time to avoid disastrous collisions. In 1891 a devastating accident occurred in Ohio because an engineer’s pocket watch stopped for only a few minutes. After this incident, the American Railway Association implemented a new set of strict standards for timepieces used by railroad workers. The newly-coined term “railroad-grade pocket watch” was used to refer to a pocket watch made to fit the strict standards for accuracy and dependability.

By 1850 owning a pocket watch was affordable; this was the height of the timepiece’s popularity and accessibility.

A revolutionary change came about by Aaron Dennison and Edward Howard. The pair had invented machines capable of making the tiny parts required to create a pocket watch. They took advantage of their discovery by mass-producing inexpensive pocket watches, making them affordable for nearly everyone. Resulting from their hard work was perhaps one of the most famous pocket watch companies in the history of time: Waltham Watch Company. For another 100 years, this company would continue to produce affordable but well-made pocket watches. These precious timepieces are worth a pretty penny today on the antique market; some sell for more than $10,000.00.

Elgin was another company to gain popularity in the late 1800s with their quality affordable pocket watches. English company Dent and Swiss companies Colibri and Dueber were all famous timepiece manufacturers who soon followed suit in the marketing of pocket watches. The most popular styles often included a brass casing, a porcelain face-plate and 17 jewels on the face. Railraod-grade watches were considered a piece to boast about. Custom and luxury styles were also made with paintings on the face-plate and more precious metals were used for the casing, such as gold or silver.

A particularly nice looking old pocket watch made by the Waltham Watch Company.

In comparison to many other fad devices known throughout history, pocket watches did have a good run.

Until around 1910, this time-telling device retained its popularity.

But the dawn of a new century brought about the decline of the pocket watch’s popularity. Giving way to the newly invented wristwatch in the early 1900s, the pocket watch eventually became obsolete.

Some men still wore them for the stylish look, but the wristwatch did conquer the pocket watch in popularity and functionality.

During WWI soldiers found the wristwatch to be much more efficient in battle; glancing at a watch was much easier than pulling a pocket watch from a pocket and opening it.

Pocket watches are still manufactured and sold today, but they are mostly a novelty item: a sophisticated and stylish remembrance of years past, forever lost in time.

Tags: clock companies, clock history, engineer's pocket watch, peter henlein, pocket watch, pocket watches, railroad-grade pocket watch, timepiece manufacturers, timepieces, verge escapement, waltham watch company

• Why Do Swiss Clocks Rule?
• What’s the Deal with Clockwise?
• What Do AM & PM Mean?
• Underwater Wristwatches
• The History of Snooze Clocks, & Why They Are Evil

Every so often on the OnlineClock.net blog, we unearth a little mystery. These mysteries aren’t ever going to be as famous of D.B. Cooper or Amelia Earhart, but they’re important to us. Regular readers of our blog know that we do the best we can to present accurate information. We’re human and we’ll make mistakes, but we do our best. When we set out to explore the history of the hourglass, we didn’t realize there was a mystery waiting to be discovered. We’re presenting you with the information that we’ve found and we’re going to let you draw your own conclusions.

Before we begin, let’s define our terms here. By hourglass, we’re talking about a glass timer device that is used to measure set amounts of time via sand that pours from one glass chamber into another, connecting glass chamber. An hour glass is sometimes also referred to as a sand glass,a sand timer or even as an egg timer (the earliest egg timers for kitchens were in fact hourglasses).

How old is the hourglass?

Short answer: no one knows.

A photo of some modern sand clocks or hourglasses.

The hourglass has also been called a “sand clock“. It works on the same principle as the clepsydra. With clepsydra (AKA water clocks), water moves from one vessel to another or leaks out of a vessel at a precise rate. How much water is present in a second vessel or remaining in the only vessel indicates the time depending upon the design of the clock. Water clocks date as far back as 1500BC.

Some people date “sand clocks” to 1300AD when requests for hourglasses started showing up on shopping lists for ships. The hourglass was important for shipping. Water clocks and pendulum clocks aren’t reliable on ships because they need to be stable to keep time accurately. Hourglasses can be suspended from a hook and the swaying of a ship doesn’t interfere very much with the movement of the sand. Additional support for the hourglass being invented in the 1300s is that an hourglass is featured in Lorenzetti’s work “Allegory of Good Government” which was created in 1338. Some people say this is the earliest artistic representation of an hourglass. That puts the hourglass being invented at the same time as the mechanical clock and that doesn’t pass the sniff test.

Ancient Egyptians, ancient Greeks, and ancient Romans, all had the technology, knowledge, and supplies needed to create a sand clock. The idea that technology seemed to stand still from 1500BC to 1300AD just doesn’t make sense to us.

According to Knight’s American Mechanical Dictionary (copyright 1817): “The sand-glass was derived from or suggested by the clepsydra.” The dictionary goes on to say, “On an ancient bas-relief in Rome an hour-glass is placed in the hands of Morpheus. Athenaeus says that the ancients carried portable hour-glasses with them.”

Charles Dickens (yes, the Charles Dickens) made note of the same depiction of Morpheus in the which an hourglass can be seen in his nonfiction weekly journal, “All the Year Round” (volume number: X; copyright 1873). “No one knows at what period these time treasures were introduced. In a basso-relievo at Mattei Palace, presenting the marriage of Thetis and Peleus, Morpheus appears holding an hour-glass in his hand. This shows, at any rate, such implements were known in mythological days of Greece.”

That’s good enough for me. Far be it for me to argue with Charles Dickens, one of my researchers, however, will argue with Charles Dickens. She’s like a hunting dog when it comes to sniffing out information and she won’t let up until she’s satisfied.

According to her logic, an artistic depiction of an event isn’t evidence of technological levels at the time of the event. It’s evidence of technological levels at the time of the creation of the artwork. We set out to date the basso-relievo and came up empty handed. We tried to date the Mattei Palace and came across a tidbit of information that puts the palace construction around 1191. We’re unsure of the accuracy of that date. The famous “turtle fountain” on the grounds of the Mattei Palace dates back to the 1500s. The turtles themselves weren’t added until the 1600s. The idea was to date the wall that held the bas-relief, but that turned into another dead end.

Numerous horological websites state that the hourglass dates back to ancient times. We know that ancient societies used oil lamps, candles, as well as clepsydra to mark time. It stands to reason that they would also use sand. Some history websites mention that hourglasses were used to time Senator’s speeches in ancient Rome. The book “Ancient Inventions” states that the Senators used clepsydra for that purpose not sand-based timepieces. The Senators would use a wax plug to temporarily pause the “clock” when their speeches were interrupted. Sand would cling to such a plug and with several uses the accuracy of the hourglass would be questionable.

By the 1300s hourglasses were so common that they were a staple on ships and were used symbolically in artwork. It takes time for a symbol to seep into culture and to be used symbolically. The symbolism of the hourglass seems to span several different cultures. That would also take a lot of time. We can’t point to any definitive piece of evidence, but 1300 seems way too late for the creation of the hourglass.

The hourglass is a technological equivalent of the ancient water clocks and we believe they date back that far.

Is there something special about the sand in an hourglass?

The sand used in a decent hourglass isn’t regular sand. Sometimes it’s not even sand. Typically, sand is too angular to pass evenly through the neck of an hourglass. Angular sand will also wear away at the glass and slowly widen the neck which results in an inaccurate timepiece. Polished, dried, and rounded sand is sometimes used. Powdered marble and silica is sometimes used also. A few sandglasses actually contain tiny glass beads or shot instead of sand.

What were hourglasses used for?

Hourglasses, like this old one made out of bronze, were frequently used on sailing vessels.

Some hourglasses were quite elaborate and fit the name “sand clock” better than “hourglass”. Some sand clocks were a series of hourglasses that could be flipped independently. Some would mark the quarter and half hour while others would mark a whole hour or two hours. As previously mentioned, hourglasses were used on ships to help mark the passage of time while at sea. Sailors and pirates used hourglasses in a few different ways. One way was the “watch glass“. This was an hourglass that would sound a bell every half an hour so that the crew could keep track of time. Sailors also figured out how to determine their speed with an hourglass. A knotted piece of rope with a woodchip attached at the end would float out from the stern of the ship. An officer would use a small sand clock to mark time between the knots (between 15 and 30 seconds depending upon the culture). This is the origin of the nautical term “knots” as in “knots per hour”.

Some hourglasses are called “pulpit glasses“. These were hourglasses (some measured two hours) that were kept at the lectern of the sanctuary. When the priest would deliver their homily or the pastor would deliver their sermon, the hourglass helped prevent anyone from becoming verbose.

Contemporary society doesn’t have much use for hourglasses. Watches, stop watches, countdowns and mechanical clocks have pushed hourglasses to the side.

A digital hourglass: an interesting attempt to bring hourglasses into the modern age.

Some people still use hourglasses for games and as egg timers in the kitchen. But the steampunk craze is bringing back the aesthetics of yore and hourglasses are experiencing an uptick of popularity within that subculture. They’re also often used symbolically in artwork and media presentations. The “wait” icon in some computer operating systems is a symbolic use of an hourglass.

Hourglasses have been with us for centuries and have a colorful place in human history.

Those of us who appreciate the beauty and silent operation of hourglasses (like those of us at the Alarm Clock Blog) hope that these charming time tools will stay will us for many centuries to come!

Tags: clepsydra, egg timer, hour glasses, hourglass, pulpit glasses, sand clock, sand clocks, sand glass, sand timer, turtle fountain, wait icon, watch glass, water clocks

• The Clockmaster Reminds You
• How Different Kinds Of Clocks Work
• History of Alarm Clocks
• Famous Clocks You Should Know About
• Clocks In Ancient History

Clocks mark the passage of time in seconds, minutes, and hours. After a certain quantity of time passes, the hours become days. Most days are forgotten, but some days become “dates” that will “live in infamy” (FDR December 8, 1947 in response to the bombing of Pearl Harbor December 7, 1947). While “days” are forgotten, “dates” are remembered. People sit around and discuss dates. They talk about specific dates with a distant reverence in their voices and a 100 yard stare in their eyes. People will remember where they were on special dates. They easily recall how they felt and who spoke. The difference between a “day” and a “date” is history.

What type of events are of large enough historic proportions to transform a “day” into a famous historical “date”?

In 3500BC, Ugh and Bugh (the names have been changed to protect their privacy) cavemen crafted the wheel and the plough in Mesopotamia. In 3200BC, Tugh (pseudonym) said, “Hey! We should write this stuff down so that people will know when we do stuff. They’ll be able to sit around their coffee tables later and talk about it.” He dismissed the inquiries about what a coffee table was and created writing. By that time, people had forgotten when Ugh and Bugh had invented the wheel and the plough. Sadly, that particular date was never recorded. Plenty of other famous dates have been recorded, though.

In the 1900s, there were several dates that caused people to have “where were you when…” type of discussions. We hope this trip into the land of Nostalgia sparks some memories for you.

For those who came of age in the Depression Era, many remember exactly where they were when they heard about the Lindberg Baby Kidnapping (March 1, 1932). Even more remember where they were when they heard that Charles Lindberg’s little boy’s body had been found (March 12, 1932). For twelve days, the nation held a collective breath and hoped that the little boy would be found safe and alive. It’s a sad fact, but children are kidnapped every day. What makes cases like the Lindberg baby and JonBenet Ramsey (December 25, 1996) stand out? Charles Lindberg was a famous and powerful man. It’s understandable why that case would make huge headlines, but it doesn’t explain the fascination with the JonBenet case. These specific cases made headlines while many others never got discussed. Why? We don’t know the answer, but it’s certainly food for thought.

The Depression Era generation will also collectively remember a panic that occurred when the world was invaded by Martians. Orson Welles made his infamous War of the Worlds broadcast on October 30, 1938. The panic that occurred during the broadcast is why our fiction must be clearly marked as fiction now. People really did think we were under an alien invasion.

The cry “oh the humanity” stands out in people’s memories not because of an alien invasion, but because of the Hindenburg disaster (May 6, 1937). In less than a minute, the airship was completely engulfed in flames as it attempted to land. Some people jumped to their deaths trying to flee the fire. Onlookers and reporters were forced to watch the disaster from the sidelines, helpless to alleviate any of the suffering.

It wasn’t all kidnapped babies, burning blimps, and aliens coming to kill us that are fixed in the minds of the Depression Era generation. They also had war including two world wars. War provided six specific dates that have “[lived] in infamy” for this generation. The bombing of Pearl Harbor and FDR’s famous speech are noted in the first paragraph of this blog post. That was 1941. In 1944, the world learned of “D-Day”. This was also called “Operation Neptune”. The Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944. In 1945, a bomb named “Little Boy” hit Hiroshima on August 6th and three days later a bomb named “Fat Man” hit Nagasaki. V-J Day (victory over Japan) is remembered as August 15, 1945. V-E Day (the defeat of Nazi Germany) is celebrated worldwide in early May. The surrender was ratified in Berlin on May 8, 1945. When these soldiers finally came home, the world experienced a boom of births. The children are collectively called “Baby Boomers”.

Berlin has been the location of several days of infamy that Baby Boomers will remember very clearly. What is it about those crazy Germans with their delicious beverages made from hops, lederhosen, and rich and proud history that makes them a hotspot for world events? For those in the “Digital Generation”, Germany wasn’t always a unified country. At one time, there was a place called “East Germany” and a place called “West Germany”. A wall in Berlin marked the line. “The Berlin Wall” (great name for a wall in Berlin, don’t you agree?) divided a country, families, and political ideologies. Many people died in the “death strip” of the wall when they tried to flee communist controlled “East Germany”. Berlin became the focal point of the cold war. President John F. Kennedy made a famous speech in Berlin on June 26, 1963. This speech has become known as the “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech. He spoke about America’s unity with the West Germans as they dealt with their divided country. Later, Ronald Reagan made one of his most famous speeches in Berlin near the Brandenburg Gate of the Berlin Wall. One of the researchers here cries whenever she hears these words, “Mister Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” Reagan made that resonating speech on June 12, 1987 and the Berlin Wall fell on November 9, 1989.

The researcher I mentioned earlier had this to say about the fall of the Berlin Wall. “I was only in the ninth grade, but I knew the significance. The next day, it was all we spoke about in school. Class after class, the students didn’t want the subjects. We wanted to talk about Germany. The teachers gave up trying to stay on task and all day we spoke about the implications of a unified Germany.” I saw tears well up in her eyes and she swallowed presumably trying to get rid of the lump in her throat. “Families were reunited after decades. No more “death strip”. They were free. I got all of that, but for me it meant the end of the Cold War. That was the last night I ever woke up in a panic from a nightmare of nuclear war. We didn’t have the “duck and cover” hope of the previous generations. We knew we’d just be dead in a horrific way. We were cleansed of that fear when that wall fell.”

Those are the moments we all remember. Those are the times when life takes our breath and grabs our collective attention. American presidents have been a part of these events in their speeches and their deaths. JFK was assassinated in Dallas on November 22, 1963 just a few months after his speech in Germany. To this day, Baby Boomers can tell you exactly where they were when they heard the broadcast or the announcement that the president had been shot. Television and radio stations carried the news across the airways. Schools announced it on the public address systems. On March 30, 1981 when Ronald Reagan was shot, Baby Boomers found themselves flooded with JFK memories and a whole host of rejuvenated fears. Luckily, President Reagan survived.

Political figures aren’t the only ones who are assassinated. John Lennon was shot on December 8, 1990. Grieving fans of the Beatles took to the streets and memorialized Lennon as best they could. Sometimes it’s not murder that silences an artist. Sometimes it’s suicide. Kurt Cobain died on April 8, 1994 and his fans will never forget that day.

There are other days that the world will never forget and some that Mother Nature is still trying to forgive. On March 28, 1979 there was an accident at the nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania. The “Three Mile Island” disaster was the result of a partial core meltdown. History views it as a minor disaster in comparison to what happened on April 26, 1986. The accident at Chernobyl has created eerie ghost towns and a crater that is still terribly toxic.

Accidents are not always Earth-bound. Sometimes they happen when we reach for the stars. On January 28, 1986 the phrase “go with throttle up” gave the world chills. The space shuttle Challenger exploded on live television. On February 1, 2003 the space shuttle Columbia felt a similar fate. Neil Aldren Armstrong knew the risks when he became an astronaut. On July 21, 1969 he became the first man to step on the moon. His words, “That’s one small step for [a] man; one giant leap for mankind,” fueled America with patriotic pride, but even he knows exactly where he was when the Challenger and Columbia accidents happened.

All too often these “special dates” are noteworthy because of tragedy or disaster. One date that is bathed in blood, but painted in hope and the power of the human spirit is June 5, 1989. That’s one of the dates of the protests in Tiananmen Square. If you’ve ever seen the picture of the single man facing down a line of tanks, that’s the day that picture was taken. One special date joins the ranks beside the fall of the Berlin Wall and marks a new era of hope and peace. That date is April 10, 1989. The Good Friday Peace Accords marked the political end of the bloodshed in Ireland. Forces have put down their guns and are fighting for a unified Ireland through political channels. Any date that marks the end of bloodshed, should forever be burned in our memories.

Do you remember any of these famous dates in history?

Do you get chills and goose bumps when you remember some of these important historical events?

Goodness knows: we do.

Events like these make us think about what clocks and time tools should really measure.

They shouldn’t just measure the passage of time.

They should mark history.

(Postscript: Did we leave out some famous dates that you think are important? Let us know via the comments form below.)

Tags: berlin wall, bombing of Pearl Harbor, chernobyl, clocks, d-day, famous dates, famous historical dates, hindenburg disaster, hiroshima, jfk assassination, john lennon shooting, kurt cobain death, space shuttle challenger, special dates

• Your Wristwatch Is Calling
• Your New Job as Human Alarm Clock
• Wild About Wall Clocks
• Why Do Swiss Clocks Rule?
• What’s the Deal with Clockwise?

Our daily lives revolve around time and to know the current time we rely on clocks. For thousands of years telling time has been a very important part of life for many reasons. We often take these time-telling devices for granted, never stopping to consider how they function or their vital assistance in prevention of losing our jobs or missing class; also clocks enable us to attend set appointments, meetings or events.

Sundials

First documented in Egyptian and Babylonian history, the earliest sundial was a tower-like structure called an Obelisk, which would cast a shadow when the sun was shining, defining the time of day. Later a sundial in a circular shape with a large protruding beam called a gnomon was crafted. As Earth orbited the sun, the shadow cast by the gnomon would meet with marked “hour” spots on the face of the dial. Obtaining the correct time on a sundial was an exact science; the sundial had to be positioned in alignment with True North. The face of the device usually indicated hours between 8 a.m and 8 p.m. Because the rotation of the Earth is consistent, this method of telling time was actually more accurate than even the earliest mechanical clocks to be invented thousands of years later. However, there was one major downfall to sundials: on an overcast day the people were simply out of luck! In addition to this, telling time at night was not a possibility; this is where the water clock gained importance.

Water Clocks

The oldest tangible time-telling piece in existence today is a water clock dating back to about 1400 BC. Water clocks were one of the first time-telling devices known to man along with the sundial. The earliest record of this type of clock was recorded around the same time as the first sundial, described in Hieroglyphics on Amenemhet’s tomb in Egypt. That inscription implies him as the creator of the water clock. Early water clocks consisted of a large steep-sided basin with a small hole, allowing water to drip into another basin below. As water dripped at a consistent rate through the hole, it would fill slowly to marked “hour” lines in the bottom basin. Later water clocks had a mechanism much like a water mill wheel into which water dripped; as the compartments on the wheel filled, it would turn and cause an attached bell to ring or object to move as a signal of time lapsing. Water clocks were invented because priests needed to perform strict rituals at night at a specific time, and of course the sundial could not be consulted during these hours.

Pendulum Clocks

Surely, everyone's familiar with pendulum clocks?

Around 1200 AD was the turning point for clocks, as a large faceless clock was invented. This device had heavy weights attached by a chain, which had to be hand-wound. As the chain unwound by means of the weights pulling on it, hours were signaled by the sound of a bell. Spring-powered clocks did not emerge until the 1400s and clocks did not display minutes or seconds until nearly the 1500s. Galileo inspired the idea used in 1656 by craftsman Christiaan Huygens to use a pendulum. This type of clock was composed of a pulley cord power source which was sped up by a wheel. A mechanism called an escapement was attached to this by way of a coiled spring and functioned to keep the clock from unwinding irregularly. The motion of the wheel would cause a ticking, or back and forth movement which is how the pendulum swings at a consistent rate. Gear-controlled clocks worked similarly, but instead of a pendulum, they simply displayed a clock face of minutes and later, seconds. Early clocks were notoriously inaccurate in the fact that several minutes or even an hour was lost each day.

Gear-Controlled Clocks

Today there are many types of clocks used. Most gear-controlled clocks are very similar to the pendulum clock in the respect of how their components work together. An escapement is perhaps the most important piece, keeping the clock ticking at a regulated pace. Some clocks are also powered by the aid of quartz. This hard mineral substance is beneficial to clocks because it has the capability to conduct a precise and consistent vibration frequency when in contact with an alternating current power source. Referred to as piezoelectricity, this process involves quartz being cut in an exact manner in which it will vibrate at about 32,768 hertz. As the vibrations occur time may be counted by either a digital display, as seen in digital clocks, or converted to a normal clock face. Of course to function, a quartz clock must be powered by a battery or electricity.

Atomic Clocks

All hail our friend, The Atom!

Perhaps one of the most intriguing modern clocks is the atomic clock. During their beginning years on the market in the 1950s, atomic clocks were very large and heavy. These devices function by way of atomic resonance. Contrary to popular belief these timepieces are not run on radioactive waves; they function by micro-waves and are powered by energy changes in atoms. Regulated by means of a satellite system in accordance with Greenwich Mean time, the atomic clock is the most accurate and precise timepiece in existence today. In recent years, these clocks have become a popular gift and desired item. Their cost is still significantly higher than a simple quartz clock but their accuracy is unrivaled, making them a must-have necessity for all scientists. Similar to the atomic clock is the radio-controlled clock. Radio clocks are regulated by a GPS system that sends signals to the clock; the central GPS system actually receives its time regulation from a real atomic clock. So in essence, radio-controlled clocks may be explained by being considered as “second-hand” atomic clocks. Radio-controlled clocks are often found on computers and radios, or in clock and watch form.

Atmos Clocks

Sometimes confused with the atomic clock is the Atmos brand clock. Atmos clocks are produced in Switzerland by Jaeger-LeCoultre. These clocks are unique in the fact that their power source is atmospheric elements. When the temperature changes just a fraction of a degree, power is created by reaction with gases and ethyl chloride in a compartment. The rising and compressing wind the mainspring and cause rotation. These clocks must be precisely designed for minimal friction and a pendulum which does not require a lot of power to work is used. Truly an energy efficient timepiece, the Atmos clock does not use any electric or battery power and is a the only self-winding mechanical clock. Considering the thousands of years in time-telling history, the past 300 years have been the most pivotal in perfecting accuracy and precision.

And Last But Not Least…

Finally, we also have the online alarm clock, which is the basis for the website which produced this blog.

Our online alarm clock runs using JavaScript, which is an object-oriented scripting language used for programming functionality on websites. Our alarm clock simply “reads” the current time from your computer’s own time settings. And here’s a tip: if you ever want to change the time zone displayed on OnlineClock.net, simply change the time settings for your computer!

We hope you’ve enjoyed this overview on different kinds of clocks and how they work.

We now wish you Happy Clocking!

Tags: atomic clocks, clocks, escapement, gear controlled clocks, online alarm clock, pendulum clocks, radio controlled clocks, spring powered clocks, sundials, Time, water clocks

• How Radio Clocks Work
• Famous Modern Clocks
• Clocks In Ancient History
• A Short History of Radio Controlled Clocks
• Wild About Wall Clocks

Wristwatches have become an ingrained aspect of timekeeping in Western cultures. There may be a time when cell phones overtake the symbol of a watch as a timekeeper, but we’ve not yet (and hopefully won’t) reach that point. When someone wants to silently ask what the time is, they point to their wrist even if they don’t wear a watch. No one reaches for their hip. This motion of silently asking for time is such a part of our collective consciousness that American Sign Language uses the motion for one of the definitions of the word “time“.

Some people wear wristwatches so often that they only notice their watch when the watch is missing. We take these steadfast keepers of time for granted. They’re just, simply, supposed to be there. They’re just, simply, supposed to work. Some people are able to get themselves in the habit of winding a wristwatch every day or every other day and some people check their wrist only to learn their watch has stopped or has become grossly inaccurate. People who fall into the second category may find it fortuitous to invest in a self-winding watch (also called an automatic watch).

A word of caution: self-winding watches tend to lose five to twenty seconds a day! Generally speaking, these watches do not hold the accuracy needed for military or scientific purposes. They’re fine for Average Joe Citizen. Always check the accuracy of the watch before making your purchase. No one likes this kind of surprise.

The invention of self-winding watches is typically accredited to John Harwood. Contrary to popular belief he was not Swiss. He was an English watch repairer and clockmaker. Many people think he was Swiss because on October 16, 1923 he registered an invention with the Federal Office for Intellectual Property of the Swiss Confederation at Berne. In September of the following year, he was given his patent. In 1926 at the Basle Trade Fair, he showcased the world’s first self-winding watch.

John Harwood, Watchmaker from the Isle of Man in the UK

As with many things clock related, Harwood’s invention is dependent upon technology conceived of and developed many years before. In the 1770s someone else had the idea of a self-winding watch. This watch was a pocket watch. Abraham-Louis Perrelet invented it. The mechanism worked like a pedometer and would require fifteen minutes of walking to properly wind the watch.

In the 1780s Abraham-Louis Breguet tried to improve upon Perrelet’s design, but failed to do so. His design changes reduced the reliability of the pocket watches and he stopped producing them in the early 1800s.

Harwood’s design has become known as a “bumper” watch. It uses a pivoting weight inside the case of the watch. It does not rotate a full 360 degrees, but would “bump” back and forth through 180 degrees. Once fully wound, Harwood’s “bumper” watches would run for 12 hours.

In 1930, Rolex tweaked Harwood’s design. They used a semi-circular weight that would rotate a full 360 degrees and would hold time-keeping tension for 35 hours.

Early self-winding watches could become over-wound and the delicate springs inside the watches could become damaged. Modern self-winding watches typically do not have that problem. If you’re thinking about purchasing a self-winding watch, make sure you check with the manufacturer and find out if it can be over-wound. All self-winding watches should not be worn when doing an activity that requires constant arm motions. Some sports like tennis or “slinging poi” are too much for the safety mechanisms that prevent over-winding.

For some people over-winding a self-winding watch isn’t a problem. Some people worry that the watch will not be wound enough which will cause the watch to slow down and create an accuracy problem. Generally speaking, this isn’t a problem as just a few minutes or even seconds of movement will put enough energy in reserve for two days of operation. Still, some consumers worry about the accuracy of their timepieces. There are winding machines that will wind a self-winding watch available for those consumers, but, honestly, they’re truly not necessary – save your money!

Some people own a variety of watches and will not wear the same watch every day. Those people do not need to purchase another apparatus to wind their self-winding watch either. If a self-winding watch has stopped there are two ways of restarting it. The first is to manually wind the watch. The crown (that knobby bit on the side of a watch) on self-winding watches sets the time and can be used to manually wind the watch. Some manufacturers feel that this mechanism is redundant and do not include it as part of their design. If the watch lacks a manual winding-function then the watch owner can hold the watch and move it in a circular motion for a half of a minute or so to kick start the watch. At that point, the watch owner logs into their computer, opens a browser, goes to one of our online clocks, and sets their clock. (What? That is the standard procedure for setting a clock, right? It should be. We don’t maintain the accuracy of these clocks for our health. We do it for all of you who ever need to set a clock. We’re selfless that way. But, seriously, our clocks are just as accurate as your computer’s clock: no more and no less… )

Self-winding watches are not “maintenance free”. No watch is.

All watches and clocks should be taken into to a certified horologist or watch repairer and get a “lube job” annually (“lube job” – that’s technical clock talk for ya, sorry if it’s over your head ).

The gears, springs, and other working bits of a watch need to be well lubricated. A watch will also need new seals every year or so to prevent water from getting into the mechanics.

Regardless of whether they run off a battery, are manually wound, or are self-winding, we here at OnlineClock.net encourage you to spay and neuter your watches…wait…wrong tag line. (Sorry about that.)

Until next time readers, keep those watches wound!

Tags: bumper watch, clocks, john harwood, over-winding, rolex, self-winding watch, self-winding watches, watches, winding machines, world’s first self-winding watch, wrist watches, wristwatches

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