Saxon lantern
SHANTI SIVARAMAN
Today we see clocks all around us. And yet centuries ago man had to devise ways and means to find out the time. In India we had the sundial and in England they used the hourglass and measured shadows to ascertain the time.
King Alfred of England is said to have invented a clever way of telling the time. He noticed how evenly the candles used in his palace burned down and he found out carefully the size of the candle, which would burn exactly three inches in an hour. He then proceeded to get a large number of candles, which measured a foot each and marked them off in inches. Since glass had not been discovered at that time, he used thin slivers of horn as cover for a wooden box in which the candles could burn evenly. The box served as a lantern as well as a clock. This is known as the Saxon Lantern.
King Alfred divided his day into three eight-hour parts. One he gave to sleep, food and exercise, another to business of the country and the third to religion, study and care of church matters.
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