by assateague » Mon Mar 11, 2013 5:20 pm
Clocks were invented to be able to more accurately determine longitude when sailing back in the 1500s. Before then, navigators could accurately determine their latitude, but had to guess at longitude, making getting anywhere an iffy proposition at best. So a Frenchman by the name of Jean-Jaqcues Longines (that's why they named them "Longitude lines", after the Frenchman) developed a reliable clock which could keep time on a ship, enabling the navigator to get an accurate bearing. Now that they had clocks, and could determine latitude and longitude, sailors could get anywhere with accuracy, leading the Vikings to land in Greenland. So before 1500 or so, there was no time. The next time you're late for work, blame the French, and Leif Erikson for bringing clocks to North America. If not for them, we could have been the lazy Europeans.