File:John_Harrison_(Gemälde).jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
OverviewAI-generated
John Harrison was a clockmaker, astronomer, inventor, and designer from the Kingdom of Great Britain. Born on March 24, 1693, he died on March 24, 1776, in London. He resided at Red Lion Square and spoke English.
Harrison received the Copley Medal, a recognition that places him within the Copley Medal collection. His work and life have been described by sources including the Nordisk familjebok, Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, The Nuttall Encyclopædia, and the Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition.
Synthesized by Vinony from 17 facts across 2 sources: Wikidata, Vinony collections. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Key facts
- Born
- 3 April [ O.S. 24 March ] 1693, Foulby , Wakefield , West Riding of Yorkshire in England
- Died
- 24 March 1776 (1776-03-24) (aged 82), London , England
- Known for
- Bimetallic strip , Gridiron pendulum , Grasshopper escapement , Longitude by chronometer , Marine chronometer
- Awards
- Copley Medal (1749) , Longitude rewards (1737 & 1773)
- Fields
- Horology & carpentry
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- John
- Family name
- Harrison
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- Kingdom of Great Britain
- Place of death
- London
- Occupation
- designer
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Award
- Copley Medal
- Image
- John Harrison Uhrmacher.jpg
- Residence
- Red Lion Square
Show 7 more facts
- date of birth
- 1693-03-24
- date of death
- 1776-03-24
- Commons category
- John Harrison
- described by source
- Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition
- name in native language
- John Harrison
- nominated for
- inventor
- writing language
- English language
Sources (6)
via Wikidata · CC0
~36 min read
Encyclopedic overview
John Harrison (3 April [O.S. 24 March] 1693 – 24 March 1776) was an English carpenter and clockmaker who invented the marine chronometer, a long-sought-after device for solving the problem of how to calculate longitude while at sea.
Harrison's solution revolutionized navigation and greatly increased the safety of long-distance sea travel. The problem he solved had been considered so important following the Scilly naval disaster of 1707 that the British Parliament was offering financial rewards of up to £20,000 (equivalent to £3.83 million in 2025) under the 1714 Longitude Act, though Harrison never received the full reward due to political rivalries. He presented his first design in 1730, and worked over many years on improved designs, making several advances in time-keeping technology, finally turning to what were called sea watches. Harrison gained support from the Longitude Board in building and testing his designs. Towards the end of his life, he received recognition and a reward from Parliament.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “John Harrison” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.