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5000 BCE
The First Literal Clock
Tis' the year, or something like that, is when the first "clock" was ever invented. It was called the "gnomon", and it was just a stick in the ground to keep track of the sun's shadow, and the length of shadow gave indication of what time of day it is.
(http://www.accuratesundials.com/site/591582/page/143772) -
300 BCE
The Appearence of the Hourglass
It is not exactly certain when the first hourglass was invented. However, what we do know is that hourglasses were one of the first ways to track time. It doesn't exactly time an hour of time, but it kept time, and that puts it as one of the first clocks on our list. (http://www.madehow.com/Volume-5/Hourglass.html) -
250 BCE
Most Accurate Clock In This Era
The Greeks use their advanced knowledge of geometry to create the most accurate sundials of their time. Apollonius of Perga developed the hemicyclium to increase the accuracy of the sundial.
(http://www.accuratesundials.com/site/591582/page/143772) -
100
Even More Accurate
People discovered that you get even more accurate times with a slanted stick on a sundial rather than the stick just being straight up and down. This also means that if you slant the stick so that it is parallel to the earth's axis, then the same time will be happening all year which means that a 5 o'clock in the summer is the same as winter. (http://www.accuratesundials.com/site/591582/page/143772) -
Jan 1, 1300
(Almost) Steampunk
The first mechanical clock was made in this time period. It was made from all iron and is driven by weights. It actually didn't show time. It just signaled the hour.
(http://www.accuratesundials.com/site/591582/page/143772) -
The Pendulum
Galileo invents the pendulum as a timekeeping device. It is also driven by weights, just like the first mechanical clock.(http://www.accuratesundials.com/site/591582/page/143772) -
Going Industrial (slowly)
This is when the first watches and clocks were starting to be used more than sundials. However, they were fairly inaccurate and many people still had to rely on the sundial.
(http://www.accuratesundials.com/site/591582/page/143772) -
Time Takes Over
Mechanical clocks become more accurate, inexpensive and consistent enough to make the sundial not as good as it was anymore.(http://www.accuratesundials.com/site/591582/page/143772) -
Going a Little Digital
The first "digital" clock ever made was really just paper flipping around in a glass tube that is powered by springs and gears. It was called a Plato-Clock. This is considered the first because it is one of the first clocks in its time that was like this.
(http://blog.onlineclock.net/history-of-digital-clocks-watches/) -
Getting Fancy
In this time period, technology was advancing very quickly and soon the clock that ran on quartz was invented. This invention made time telling extremely accurate. It is only off by 1/500 seconds each day. The only drawback is that it doesn't last that long for some reason.
(http://www.mallams.co.uk/blog/how-clocks-have-changed-over-time/) -
Going a Bit Too Far?
This bit is a little unnecessary, but I'll leave it in. The invention of the atomic clock, which if you ask me was kind of a waste of time and money, was invented in this year. What makes this massive device stand out is its sheer accuracy. If you add up all the time that it is off by, you will end up at a blistering large 1 second off every 300 million years.
(http://www.mallams.co.uk/blog/how-clocks-have-changed-over-time/) -
Modern Day
Today's clocks mostly consist of a watch that is powered by a quartz battery, which is small but still lasts a longer time than the first one built. Or if you are really trendy, then you may have an Apple Watch or something like that which runs on a rechargeable lithium-ion battery.
(http://www.explainthatstuff.com/quartzclockwatch.html)
