There was a time when I thought that an alarm clock was a nuisance to have because of its rude awakening from a wonderful deep sleep.  I could not dillydally, but had to face reality, and get out of bed to get ready for school and/or work.  However, I soon learned that these clocks are special, in that they can be used to take medicine, keep appointments, and organize daily, or weekly activities.

 Of course, they are designed to make a loud noise at a set time, and the primary use of these clocks is to awaken people from their sleep.  However, a person may just want to take a  nap for a certain period of time, and will set the alarm to be awakened at a certain time of the day or night. Pressing a button, or moving it from an on-to-off position, will stop the sound of these clocks.  Some of them have a remote control that you can use without having to get close to, or even touch the alarm. Some stop automatically after being left unattended.  

Analog Clocks

The classical analog clock with an integrated alarm has an extra hand that is used to specify the time to activate the alarm.  Traditional mechanical clocks with alarms have one or two bells that ring, but digital alarm clocks can make other noises as well.  In a mechanical bell clock, a mainspring drives
a gear that propels a clacker back and forth  between two bells or between the sides inside a single bell.  On the electric bell-style alarm clocks, the bell rings with an electromagnetic circuit and an armature that repeatedly turns the circuit on and off.  Battery powered clocks with an integrated alarm will make a loud buzzing sound or other similar noises.  Novelty clocks with an alarm can speak, laugh, or sing.  Progressive clocks, new in the market, can have a different alarm for different times.  

Ancient Alarm Clocks

In the ancient period, people used sundial, which measured the time by the use of the sun; candle clock, sticks of incense used to estimate time; hourglass, fine sands poured through a small hole at a constant rate, and water clock, time determined by using water.


First Mechanical Alarm Clock

The first mechanical alarm clock can be traced in the 14th century in Europe.  These early clocks had a ring of holes in the clock dial.  It was set by putting a pin in the appropriate hole.  During that year the alarms were put on the mantel, wall, and grandfather clocks.

Levi Hutchins, a 26-year-old clock maker in concord, New Hampshire would get up every day at 4:00 a.m. to work on his clocks, but when he overslept, he became very troubled.  He thought and thought of a clock that would wake him up promptly at 4:00 a.m. that would have an alarm of some kind.  In the year 1787,  he built a cabinet, transferred the inner mechanism of one of his large brass clocks into it, and inserted a pinion or gear.  When the minute hand of the clock reached and tripped the pinion at 4:00 o’clock, the movement of the pinion set a bell in motion, and the bell made sufficient noise to awaken him.  Hutchins never bothered to patent his alarm clock, as he was  not interested in money, he was just interested in not oversleeping.

In conclusion, I absolutely think that alarm clocks are great, in spite of their loud, persistent, aggravating demand that you wake-up to the set time.  They are useful in getting you on time for your various appointments, helpful in that you take your prescribed medicine at a certain time, and you can also take these clocks with you when you travel, or to schedule the fun things.  Yes, these alarm clocks are definitely special.