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Today's Random Fact:

The clockmaker Jost Burgi invented the cross-beat escapement, and the remontoire, two mechanisms which improved the accuracy of mechanical clocks of the time (late 1500's) by orders of magnitude. This allowed for the first time clocks to be used as scientific instruments, with enough accuracy to time the passing of stars (and other heavenly bodies) in the crosshairs of telescopes to start accurately charting stellar positions.


Bonus Fact:

In 1504, the first portable (but very accurate) timepiece was invented in Nuremburg, Germany by Peter Henlein. The first reported person to actually wear a watch on the wrist was the French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal (1623-1662). With a piece of string he attached a pocket watch to his wrist.