25 DAYS OF INVENTORS: THE ALARM CLOCK & THE RUN AWAY CLOCK

The alarm clock

Alarm clock: The first alarm clock was created in ancient Greece, by Ctesibus, a Hellenistic engineer and inventor. He developed an elaborate system of dropping pebbles on to a gong in order to make a sound. This sound was set to happen at specific time intervals.

Another mechanical alarm clock was created by Levi Hutchins, of New Hampshire in the USA in 1787. The device he made was only for himself however, and it only rang at 4 AM, in order to wake him for his job. The French inventor Antoine Redier was the first to patent an adjustable mechanical alarm clock, in 1847.

Lew Wallace came up with the the snooze button. Popular opinion has it that the snooze was the feat, or fault, of Lew Wallace, the famous author of Ben-Hur. However, the Lew Wallace Museum asserts that Wallace could not have created the snooze button, although he did invent a few other things.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/a-2000year-history-of-alarm-clocks

Aidan Richardson a year 7 student from St Ninians Primary in Scotland, has decided to go the one step further to get you out your comfy bed. Aidan’s idea is the ‘Run Away Clock’ he found a problem that most people ignore their alarm clocks and quite often press the snooze button. Well Aidan’s clock starts moving when it goes off making you get out of your bed to switch it off! Your worst nightmare or an ingenuous invention?