-
428 BCE
WATER CLOCK
owned by the ancient Greek philosopher PLATO -
285 BCE
CLEPSYDRAS
by the Hellenistic engineer and inventor CTESIBIUS -
683
STRIKING CLOCK
Devised by the Buddhist monk and inventor YI-XING in China. -
Period: 1300 to 1400
CLOCK TOWERS
in Western Europe, capable of chiming at a fixed time every day. For example, St Mark's clocktowere in Venice. -
Period: 1400 to 1500
USER-SETTABLE MECHANICAL ALARM CLOCKS
in Europe, they had a ring of holesin the clock dial and were set by placing a pin in the appropriate hole. -
AN ADJUSTABLE MECHANICAL ALARM CLOCK
by the French inventor Antoine Redier. -
Period: to
Computer alarms and mobile phone alarms
Online alarm clocks are also available through the use of different websites, for example sensorwake.
The mobile phone doesn't need to be switched on for the alarm to ring off. -
Period: to
A CRITICAL SHORTAGE OF ALARM CLOCKS
due to WWII (they ceased production in the US) + due to older clocks wearing out or breaking down : so workers were late to go to work! As a consequence, several clock companies were allowed to start producing clocks again! -
THE FIRST RADIO ALARM CLOCK
invented by James F. Reynolds. -
NEXT-GENERATION ALARMS
Alarms clocks involving sleep stage monitoring appeared on the market. These alarm clocks are supposed to wake people only from light sleep.