British clockmaker John Harrison (1693-1776), the man who built the first marine chronometer to measure longitude, was born 325 years ago this week. Harrison was raised in Foulby in Yorkshire, the son of a carpenter. He was expected to follow the family trade but became fascinated with mechanical clockwork when he was bedridden with smallpox, aged six, and spent his convalescent hours toying with a pocket watch he had been given as a gift.The family relocated to Barrow upon Humber in Lincolnshire in 1700, where the young Harrison rose to become choirmaster of the parish church. At 20, Harrison combined his interests to build his first grandfather clock, making both the oak cabinet and pendulum mechanism himself. This and two others survive to this day, one of which is on display in London’s Science Museum. Read more
