The clock is one of the oldest human inventions to enable us to judge how long a process has run. As the seasons and the phases of the moon can be used to measure the passage of longer periods of time, shorter processes had to be used to measure off hours and minutes.
The word 'clock' comes from the French word "cloche" meaning bell. The Latin for bell is glocio, the Saxon is clugga and the German is glocke. The first mechanical alarm clock was invented by Levi Hutchins of Concord, New Hampshire, in 1787. However, historical records reveal that approximately 5000 to 6000 years ago great civilizations in the Middle East and North Africa began to make clocks to enhance their calendars. These cultures found that they needed to organize their time more efficiently.
Originally candles and sticks of incense that burn down at approximate predictable speeds were used as to estimate the passage of time. Other methods were sundials and hourglasses. The development of electronics in the twentieth century led to clocks with no clockwork parts at all. Time in these cases is measured in several ways, such as by the vibration of a tuning fork or the behaviour of quartz crystals. Now mechanical clocks have since come to be largely powered by batteries, removing the need for winding.