Some people have often wondered where the stopwatch came from originally. Some would venture that the ancient Egyptions made the first stopwatch, and that may very well be true because ancient cultures invented some very advanced pieces of technology. If you don’t believe me then you should probably visit one of their pyramids and then try to figure out exactly how they pulled that one off. Since we can’t go back and ask them to show us their stopwatch we would have to say that one of the earliest examples of the stopwatch was created by Leon Breitling in 1884.

These watches were very expensive seeing as how they were originally made for use in aviation. Though they were used for that, people began to buy and wear them as more of a status symbol than anything else. These original models were created long before anyone had even heard of electronics, and as such they were mechanical, most using a winding mechanism.

Many of the original stopwatches had a large face, but even though that is not comfortable to wear, it didn’t stop anyone from doing so. People didn’t care if it was awkward to wear or not, since they only wanted the status symbol which was expensive to purchase and therefore automatically considered good.

One stopwatch has been a famous icon for more than half a century. On the popular and long running TV show, 60 Minutes, people have gotten used to the stopwatch that is always present in the corner of the screen. Practically nobody wondered if there was CGI at that point in time, but it is a fact that this was a real stopwatch.

Now that we have CGI the stopwatch is no longer needed, but that doesn’t mean that it was tossed aside like an old rag. In fact, the 60 minute stopwatch now sits proudly in the Smithsonian amongst other popular television icons such as Hawkeye Pierce’s bathrobe. Isn’t it amazing, all of the things you didn’t know about popular culture? Who would have thought that a little stopwatch would have played such a huge role in the development of a television show.

Stopwatches are still basically the same, even though they have advanced over time. They now keep track of laps, can be used to measure time for lab experiments and many other things, as well as keeping track of time in several different countries. This is a big difference to the functions of the original stopwatch that was invented, but it is still important to keep in mind the humble roots.

No matter what new inventions there are, all of them have had a long road to go down before they go to where they are now. When you are holding a stopwatch, then next time take a few moments to contemplate the history this small device has had and its role in society. You will surely come up with many more examples than just the one mentioned above.

If you are researching stopwatch, check out this blog which has good articles on mechanical stopwatches.

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