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Period: 3000 BCE to 300 BCE
Obelisk
Egyptians could tell time by the shadow thrown by the sun on an unmoving subject. They used an obelisk. That is a verticale construction with four sides, as a shadow clock, placing it in the sun so that it could throw a shadow. -
Period: 300 BCE to 1000
Sundial
People in Babylonia used a sundial, which a flat circle on which a 12-hour clock face, or dial, was written. They also attached a gnomon (=vertical marker) to the middle of the dial. -
Period: 1100 to 1300
Hourglass
The Europeans used the hourglass at any time, which was one of the first timekeepers. These timekeepers (or timepieces) are tools designed for telling time without using the sun. -
Period: 1300 to 1400
Mechanical clocks
The first mechanical clocks appeared in Europe -
Period: 1400 to
First watches
The first watches showed up in Italy. These timepieces could be weared or carried. -
Period: to
Pendulum
European scientists and inventors found at that this world would make the clock much better in setting time precisely. The pendulum is a rod-like weight that swings from side to side and it controls a clock mechanism. -
Period: to
GMT
GMT = Greenwich Mean Time; time measured in each time zone. It is 1 hour later than in time zone West. It is 1 hour earlier than in time zone East. -
Period: to
UTC
UTC = Universal Time Coordinate; this new very exact system, was approved over the whole world as the official measure of time for the planet.