One of New York’s honoured New Year’s Eve traditions is the Times Square ‘ball drop’ which starts at 11:59pm on December 31 and ends at precisely 0:00 on New Year’s Day. The ‘time ball’ was originally a visual way to signal time to ships in harbours so they could synchronise their ship clocks - accurate time being a critical way to know your longitude at sea.

Oct 16

Oct 16 Why do we still say 'o'clock'?

Carigo

Etymology, History, Invention

Why do we use ‘o’clock’ when telling the time? When mechanical clocks were first introduced in the 14th Century, the most common way to tell time was using a sundial - which often showed a different time than the mechanical clock. Saying ‘of the clock’ (later shortened to ‘o’clock’) let someone know which time you meant.

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Dec 31 Great balls of time!

Oct 16 Why do we still say 'o'clock'?

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