Before the invention of the alarm clock, people relied on natural cues and sometimes rather noisy methods to wake up at the desired time.
Roosters crowing at dawn, the sound of church bells, and even ‘knocker-uppers’ who were paid to tap on windows with sticks were common ways to start the day. However, in 1787, an American watchmaker named Levi Hutchins changed the course of history, at least for himself, by creating the first alarm clock.
This groundbreaking invention, however, was designed for a singular purpose: to wake Hutchins up at 4 am for work. It was a personal project and he never patented or manufactured it for wider use.
The world had to wait a few more decades for the adjustable mechanical alarm clock, which was patented by French inventor Antoine Redier in 1847. This paved the way for the mass production of alarm clocks, making waking up at a specific time more accessible to everyone. The first small mechanical wind-up alarm clock was patented in the US in 1876 by Seth E. Thomas. The electric alarm clock followed by the end of the 1800s.
While Hutchins’ 4 AM alarm clock may seem rudimentary by today’s standards, it marked a significant step towards the sophisticated timekeeping devices we rely on today.
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