6 things people used to wake up to before the invention of the alarm clock

Time is one of the most valuable concepts in the world. Because our whole life is built in accordance with this complex and comprehensive concept. For this reason, “what time is it” is always important to all of us. For example, a missed meeting, a late bus, a missed job interview, or an early meeting can change our entire lives in unpredictable ways. Luckily there is an alarm! In this way, we can respond to the alarms of our mobile phones when we need to, even if it is difficult most of the time, and we can start the day exactly at the time we should start. So how did people wake up when they didn’t have cell phones? Here are 6 things people used to wake up to before the alarm clock was invented.

1. Water

A long time ago, water had the function of waking people up! People of the past who didn’t have any signaling mechanism; especially those who had to get up early drank as much water as possible before going to bed. Thus, they would involuntarily wake up, at least close to the time they should have.

On the other hand, some claims suggest that the tradition of “drinking water as an alarm clock” originated with Indian tribes who wanted to be ready for enemy raids and get up early.

2. Clepsydra – water clock

Yes, there were no alarm systems in the modern sense, helping people to wake up in antiquity. But they were also not completely unfamiliar with the concept of an alarm clock. So much so that even thousands of years ago a kind of water clock called Clepsydra was used.

Although the world’s oldest mechanical clock served as a timer, not an alarm clock. Like today’s hourglass, the Clepsydra had a working system that allowed the liquid inside to move to different chambers. Completion of fluid exchange between the chambers meant that the set time had elapsed. Thus, it was also possible to make time a measurable concept.

3. Houses of worship

Of course, before the alarm clock was invented, it was much more difficult for people to wake up at their chosen time than it is now. However, there were some things they used to wake up early in the morning and start the day at the right time. And places of worship also acted as alarm clocks.

Calls for morning prayers from mosques in Muslim areas informed people that a new day had come and it was time to get up. The sleep of Christians in the past was interrupted by church bells.

4. Knocker-up

Knocker-Ups is the name given to people who are in a profession especially common in England. You can also describe these people as a kind of “awakening”. Because these people came to their clients, with whom they had agreed in advance, at the right time and knocked on the window or door with wooden sticks in their hands until their clients woke up.

During the years of the Industrial Revolution, the importance of getting up early increased, and large companies that could not afford their workers to be even a minute late to the factory began to hire a large number of informers in their organizations.

5. Factory whistles

Factories that began operating at first light during the Industrial Revolution also used strong factory whistles to wake up their workers living nearby to make sure they got back to work on time. Factory whistles were some of the most effective alarm settings of the recent past…

6. Alarm clock

One of the things that people have been waking up to throughout history has been, of course, alarm clocks! However, to use this precious device, it was necessary to wait until the end of the 1700s.

The first alarm clock was invented in 1787 by American watchmaker and inventor Levi Hutchins. A gear mechanism and a bell housed in a small pine wood box were the first examples of modern alarm clocks. However, this precious instrument invented by Hutchins could only be played at 04:00 in the morning!

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