Timeline of Telling Time

By anneke.padolina@gmail.com
  • Obelisks
    3500 BCE

    Obelisks

    Tall 4-sided structures that were used to tell time based on their shadows
  • Sundials
    1500 BCE

    Sundials

    Shadow clocks first used by ancient Egyptians
  • Merkhet
    600 BCE

    Merkhet

    Handheld Egyptian shadow clocks that allowed telling time when the sun was down.
  • Waterclock
    325 BCE

    Waterclock

    A type of clock that measured time by passing water through a small hole.
  • Vituvius' Ten Books on Architecture
    25 BCE

    Vituvius' Ten Books on Architecture

    Vitruvius describes >13 styles of sundials across Greece, Italy and Asia Minor.
  • Song Dynasty Astronomical Clock
    Dec 24, 1088

    Song Dynasty Astronomical Clock

    Water driven complex mechanism designed by Su Song in China.
  • Pendulum Clock

    Pendulum Clock

    Christiaan Huygens invented the first pendulum clock. This clock would keep time accurately to one minute per day.
  • Quartz Clock

    Quartz Clock

    First clock developed by passing an electric current through quartz and counting the vibrations to determine 1 second.
  • Atomic Clock

    Atomic Clock

    The first atomic clock used the vibrations of caesium atoms to determine 1 second.