Various Ways to Tell Time Throughout Time

Water Clock

3000 BCE

Early Greeks and Egyptians

Obelisk

3000 BCE

Egyptians

Hourglass

1100 BCE

11th Century Europe

Burning Rope Candle

1000 BCE

Ancient China

Sundial

300 BCE

Babylonia

Mechanical Clocks

1300

Europe

Coiled Spring Watch

1400

Italy

Pendulum

1600

Europe

International Date Line Established

1880

"The International Date Line serves as the "line of demarcation" between two consecutive calendar dates." (https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/international-date-line.html)

Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)

1884

Greenwich Mean Time or GMT is the clock time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London. It is the same all year round and is not affected by Summer Time or Daylight Saving Time. When the sun is at its highest point exactly above the Prime Meridian, it is 1200 noon at Greenwich. (https://greenwichmeantime.com/what-is-gmt/)

Daylight Savings Time

1916

First introduced in 1916, around the time of World War 1, as a way of reducing energy consumption because it maximizes the use of daylight, therefore minimizing electricity use for heat and lighting. (NAMC World History Manual pg. 33)

Universal Time Coordinate (UTC)

1972