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When time got ‘grand’
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How the very exclusive Grandfather Clock got its name
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It was Galileo Gallilei who discovered that a pendulum could help keep time, and this principle was put to use by Christian Huygens, a Dutch scientist in 1656 to develop a pendulum-based clock. This was further fine-tuned by William Clement an English clock-maker who found that a longer pendulum kept better time in 1670. He lengthened the pendulum to over three feet and thus, the clock case got longer, and this is how the Grandfather Clock was born.
These large size clocks were first made for royal families and nobles since they were expensive to make and only the rich could afford them. They thus became status symbols, and became very ornate with elaborate clock cases worked and carved to perfection.
How it got its name
An American song writer named Henry Clay Work wrote a song ’My Grandfather’s Clock’ based on a story he heard of a clock in a hotel in England when he was travelling. The long case floor clocks began to be called ’Grandfather Clock’ after this song.
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