THE FIRST CLOCK.
ASTONISHMENT IN MILAN.
In 1309 the first olock known to the world was placed in the tower of San Eustorgio, in Milan. The greatest astonishment and admiration were . manifested by crowds who came to see the timepiece. In 1344 a clock was installed in the palace of the Nobles ,at Padua. This was a wonder of mechanism indeed, for, besides indicating the hours, it showed the course of the sun, the revolutions of the planets, ■ the various phases of the moon, the months, 'and th© fetes of the year. In 1420 an' alarm clock made its appearance. This, we are told, was looked upon by the people of that age as "an instrument prodigieux." ■ The fortunate possessor of this clock was Andrea Alciato, a councillor of Milan. The chroniclers have placed on record that this clock sounded a bell at a stated hour, and at the same time a little wax candle was lighted automatically. How this was done we are not told, but it must not be overlooked that until about a hundred years ago we had no means of obtaining a light other than the tinder box, so that the Milanese must have been centuries ahead of us in this , respect.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19230324.2.188.16
Bibliographic details
New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18357, 24 March 1923, Page 2 (Supplement)
Word Count
206THE FIRST CLOCK. New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18357, 24 March 1923, Page 2 (Supplement)
Using This Item
NZME is the copyright owner for the New Zealand Herald. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons New Zealand BY-NC-SA licence . This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of NZME. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Acknowledgements
This newspaper was digitised in partnership with Auckland Libraries and NZME.
Log in