I’m currently in a love-hate relationship with my alarm clock. I’m not a morning person. I’ll never understand people who wake up cheerful even before the alarm rings. And while I am not one of the people who hits the snooze multiple times, I do not enjoy the alarm. Especially on Monday morning.
Did you know the ancient Greek philosopher Plato had an alarm clock? It was a water clock that was devised to make a sound with a pipe at dawn. The Roman armies also used water clocks to sound gongs to wake them — although personally, I think maybe having the water splash them might have been more effective.
Mechanical alarm clocks date back to 15th century Europe. Americans waited until the late 1700’s to put our own particular spin on the device. According to Wikipedia:
The first American alarm clock was created by Levi Hutchins, of New Hampshire in the United States, in 1787. This device he made only for himself however, and it only rang at 4 AM, in order to wake him for his job.
Digital alarm clocks came into vogue in the 1970’s and often included an AM/FM radio element that started showing up with clocks in the 1940’s. Many people use their cell phones or tablets as alarm clocks now but I’m old fashioned. I still have a digital alarm clock – that goes off at 5:35AM these days. Ugh….
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