answersLogoWhite

0

The history of clocks is a long one and there have been many different types of clocks over the centuries. The oldest type of clock was a sundial and were first used around 3500 BC. About 3,000 years ago water clocks were invented in Egypt and they were also very popular in Greece. It was the Egyptians and the Babylonians who decided to divide the day into 12 parts called hours. They also divided the night, the time from sunset to sunrise and were able to adjust according to the time of year. Finally, they figured out that by dividing the whole day into 24 hours of equal length the time could be figured more accurately. The number 12 was used because that is the number of moon cycles in a year. The Sumerians came up with the dividing the hour into 60 minutes and each minute is 60 seconds. This came about 4,000 years ago. Pendulum clocks were invented in Germany in 1510 by Peter Henlein and the first clock with a minute hand was invented in 1577 by Jost Burgi. Quartz crystal clocks were invented in 1920. So, as you can see it is impossible to tell you who the first person was to use the clock since it took place over 5,000 years ago. People did not record things like that, but what is important is that civilizations came up with methods to measure time.

User Avatar

Wiki User

13y ago

What else can I help you with?