Invention Timeline - John Arnold, English Horologer and Inventor; Made Great Improvements in the Chronometer
b. ? 1744 and d. August 25, 1799
English horologer and inventor; one who made great improvements in the chronometer. He was patronized by George III. Among his improvements are the detached escapement, the expansion balance and the cylindrical balance spring.
Integrity was the “Main-spring,”
And Prudence the “Regulator” of all the
Actions of his life,
Humane, generous, and liberal,
His “Hand” never stopped
Till he had relieved distress.
So sincerely “regulated” were all his movements,
That he never “went wrong,”
Except when “set agoing” by People
Who did not know “His Key.”
—A Watchmaker’s Epitaph
158 B. C.—Scipio Nasica invented water-clocks, by means of which day and night were first divided at Rome.
140 B. C.—Ctesiblus invented the water-clock called clepsydra which contaiend toothed wheels.
760—The only clock in the world (so far as now known) was sent to Pepin by Pope Paul I.
802—Charlemagne was presented with a striking clock by Harun-al-Raschid the (famous) calif of Bagdad.
1000—The application of escapement to clocks was devised by Gerbert (Pope Sylvester II.).
1658—Pocket watches were first made.
