Rec and Sports

Relics – Stopwatches

It is not unusual for people to wonder where the stopwatch originated. There are some that would dare say that ancient Egyptians were the creators of the first stopwatch and it is not as far-fetched as it would sound, because many ancient civilizations were responsible for inventing some advanced technological items. If you want proof, just take a look at the pyramids of Egypt and then figure out just how they managed to build them. Since it is impossible to ask the ancient Egyptians to show us a stopwatch of theirs, we can only start with the earliest known stopwatches which were made by Leon Breitling back 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These watches were very expensive seeing as how they were originally made for use in aviation.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.

Most of these stopwatches had a large face and although that would be strange to wear like a regular watch, it was done anyway. The awkwardness didn’t bother people since anything that cost a lot of money was considered to be good and used as a status symbol.

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.

Even though the CGI stopwatch is not needed, it still wasn’t thrown out like a piece of garbage. That very stopwatch that was a part of 60 Minutes for so many years now is actually on display at the Smithsonian, just like other famous TV icons like the bathrobe from Hawkeye Pierce. It is surprising for many that a little thing like a stopwatch has had such a big role in a popular TV 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.

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