Clock Museums
American Clock & Watch Museum
100 Maple Street
Bristol, Connecticut
Greensboro Clock Museum
300 Bellemeade Street
Greensboro, North Carolina
Henry Ford Museum
Greenfield Village
Dearborn, Michigan
Henry Francis DuPont Winterthur Museum
Winterthur, Delaware
J. Cheney Wells Clock Gallery
Old Sturbridge Village
Sturbridge, Massachusetts
Museum of Clocks and Watches
New York University
Albany, New York
The National Clock and Watch Museum
514 Poplar Street
Columbia, Pennsylvania
Old Clock Museum
929 East Preston
Pharr, Texas

Patent Dates by Serial Numbers

1 ~ 1,464
1,465 ~ 6,980
6,981 ~ 26,641
26,642 ~ 98,459
98,460 ~ 223,210
223,211 ~ 418,664
418,665 ~ 640,166 1836 ~ 1839
1840 ~ 1849
1850 ~ 1859
1860 ~ 1869
1870 ~ 1879
1880 ~ 1889
1890 ~ 1899

640,167 ~ 945,009
945,010 ~ 1,326,898
1,326,899 ~ 1,742,180
1,742,181 ~ 2,185,169
2,185,170 ~ 2,492,943
2,492,944 ~ 2,919,442 1900 ~ 1909
1910 ~ 1919
1920 ~ 1929
1930 ~ 1939
1940 ~ 1949
1950 ~ 1959

Important Dates In The History Of Clocks

B.C. 742
First authentic recorded mention of the sun dial.
There is, however, evidence of use of the sun dial
as early as 2,000 B.C.
B.C. 300
Toothed wheels for transmission of power
attributed to Archimedes.
A.D. 330
Sand glasses known to be in use.
A.D. 885
Alfred the great used candles as "clocks."
A.D. 1368
Clockmaking in England started.
A.D. 1490
Mainspring invented by Peter Hele, or Henlein,
a locksmith of Nurnburg. About this time the small
domestic, or table clock made its appearance.
A.D. 1510
The first watch was made at about this time.
A.D. 1540
Screws made their appearance.
A.D. 1541
An astronomical clock was fixed in one of
the towers of Hampton Court Palace.
A.D. 1581
Galileo, Italian Astronomer and Physicist,
discovered the properties of the pendulum.
A.D. 1587
Watchmaking industry commenced in Geneva.
A.D. 1610
Glasses as protection for watch dial and hand introduced.
A.D. 1635
Enamel dials invented by Paul Viet of Blois, France.
A.D. 1657
Christiaan Huygens, a Dutch Physicist, made
the first pendulum controlled clock.
A.D. 1666
The recoil anchor excapement, possibly invented
by Dr. Robert Hooke between 1666 and 1667.
A.D. 1671
Pendulum suspension spring introduced by
William Clement. The first known clock with
anchor excapement made by William Clement.
A.D. 1675
Royal Observatory at Greenwich founded. Edward Booth
( Later Rev. Edward Barlow ) invented the
Rack Striking Mechanism for clocks.
A.D. 1676
The concentric minute hand, with motion work
similar to that in use today, was used by
Daniel Quare, a famous London maker and
others. Daniel Quare also made repeating watches
about this time. The Second Hand is introduced.
A.D. 1704
Nicholas Facio, FRS, a native of Geneva, who
settled in London, succeeded in piercing
rubies and sapphires for use as jewelled
bearing for balance staff pivots.
A.D. 1720
George Graham invented the dead-beat
excapement for clocks. He also invented
the mercurial compensation pendulum.
A.D. 1725
John Harrison invented the grid-iron compensation pendulum.
George Graham invented the cylinder escapement.
A.D. 1765
Centre Seconds hand introduced. " Tell-tale" clocks
invented by John Whitehurst, FRS, a celebrated
clockmaker of Berby and London. (1713-1788)
A.D. 1840
Alexander Bain, an Edinburgh clockmaker,
made the first electric clock.
A.D.1858
The British Horological Institute, an association
of Clock and Watch Makers for the purpose of advancing
the horological art, was founded. "The Horological Journal,"
the oldest periodical dealing with the craft, was stated.
A.D. 1865
Georges Frederick Roskopf developed
the pin pallet escapement.
A.D. 1880
G.M.T. became the standard time for
the whole of the United Kingdom.
Charles R. Sligh forms the
Sligh Furniture Company
A.D. 1884
The meridian of Greenwich was adopted by
international agreement as the zero or prime
meridian from which the longitude of all
places in the world is measured.
A.D. 1895
The first electric master clock and impulse dial system
was invented by Frank Hope-Jones, F.B.H.I. Upon which
all modern impulse clock systems are based.
A.D. 1900
Electric contacts are fitted to a Marine Chronometer
for the purpose of impulsing secondary dials.
A.D. 1916
Summer Time first introduced.
A.D. 1918
The alternating current synchronous motor was first
applied to clocks by H.C. Warren in the U.S.A.,
although the principle had been discussed as far back as 1895.
Thus came the first "plug into mains" clock.
A.D. 1921
Study and development of the Quartz Crystal clock
commenced by Dr. Warren A. Marrison, F.B.H.I.
a Canadian who became an American citizen.
A.D. 1937
Quartz Crystal clocks introduced at
the Royal Greenwich Observatory.
A.D. 1955
Atomic Clock invented by Dr. L. Essen, O.B.E., F.B.H.I.
National Physical Laboratory, Teddington.
A.D. 1960
Sligh purchases the Trend Clock Company
and starts producing the Sligh Clocks.

A.D. 2006
The Sligh Clock Company
announces that they will
no longer manufacturer clocks.