As a result, mechanical clocks, far more accurate and reliable than older timekeepers, became increasingly ubiquitous. As historian E P Thompson noted, the clock was a technology of discipline and ...

1600 BC: Egyptians created water clocks (clepsydra) to track time even at night. 4th Century BC: Greeks divided the day into 24 hours—still in use today. 14th Century: Mechanical clocks appeared in ...

What started as a simple “can I make it run longer” spiraled into a full-blown beautiful grandfather clock. A gear drive, a ratcheted winding sprocket, and a ball chain gave the clock about ...