Ways of Telling Time

  • 3000 BCE

    obelisk

    Early Egyptians told time by using the shadows cast by an obelisk.
  • 300 BCE

    sundial

    Babylonians started using a sundial, on which they attached a gnomon.
  • 1000

    hourglass

    Europeans used hourglasses as one of the first timekeepers.
  • 1300

    mechanical clock

    The first mechanical clocks were in Europe.
  • Pendulum

    Pendulums were added to mechanical clocks to help their accuracy.

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