Astounding Timepieces

Image of Crypt of Civilization located in Atlanta, Georgia, US | Just before the door was shut on the Crypt of Civilization.
Atlanta, Georgia, US

Crypt of Civilization

The world's first time capsule lies behind a welded steel door in Atlanta

The Crypt of Civilization at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, Georgia, is widely considered to be the first conventional time capsule intended to be opened on a specific date in the future. That... »

Catacombs, Crypts, & Cemeteries, Astounding Timepieces, Long Now Locations, Repositories of Knowledge | Edited by mrobscurity, wythe and 2 others

Image of Long Now Orrery located in San Francisco, California, US | The Long Now Orrery
San Francisco, California, US

Long Now Orrery

A modern mechanical planetary system, part of a 10,000 year clock

Inside the offices of the Long Now Foundation in San Francisco is a small museum dedicated to the art of long-term thinking. Surrounded by diagrams, molds, and assorted mechanical contraptions is... »

Unique Collections, Astounding Timepieces, Instruments of Science, Retro-Tech, Long Now Locations | Edited by Annetta and Dylan

Image of The Sundial of Santo Domingo located in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

The Sundial of Santo Domingo

The first official clock in North America, it kept time for the Spanish government of Santo Domingo

Before there were cell phones, watches, clocks, and about a million other ways to check the time, there was the sundial. The El Reloj de Sol de Santo Domingo is one of the oldest sundials in... »

Astounding Timepieces, Long Now Locations | Edited by bebeto, Dylan and others

Image of Steam Clock Gastown Vancouver located in Vancouver, Canada
Vancouver, Canada

Steam Clock Gastown Vancouver

A working steam clock, one of only a few in the world, located in Vancouver's Victorian Gastown

Underneath Vancouver, Canada, there runs a series of steam tunnels, some apparently large enough to walk in. You can look down onto the tunnels—which run under major streets, including Cordova,... »

Astounding Timepieces, Retro-Tech, Amazing Automata | Edited by canuck, Annetta and others

Image of Genk Sundial Park located in Flanders, Belgium | a
Flanders, Belgium

Genk Sundial Park

This collection of solar timekeepers includes the world's first digital sundial

Opened in 2000 by the Flemish Sundial Society, the Genk Sundial Park includes over-sized models of many of history's most incredible mechanisms for reading time off of shadows. Located in the... »

Astounding Timepieces | Edited by Josh and Dylan

Image of Ulugh Beg Observatory located in Urta Osiyo Temir Yuli, Uzbekistan
Urta Osiyo Temir Yuli, Uzbekistan

Ulugh Beg Observatory

Light still pours into the ruins of this ancient Islamic observatory

For nearly half a millennium, the remains of one of the greatest observatories ever built lay hidden in Central Asia. A product of one Muslim prince's devotion to science, the observatory was the... »

Astounding Timepieces, Instruments of Science, Retro-Tech, Incredible Ruins, Subterranean Sites | Edited by Trevor and wythe

Image of Astronomical Clock of Lyon located in Lyon, France | Dial of Astronomical Clock of Lyon.
Lyon, France

Astronomical Clock of Lyon

For hundreds of years, automatons moving to metallic music have been marking the passage of time

At the turning of an hourglass in an angel's hand, a rooster crows three times and eerie bell music rings through the Cathédrale Saint-Jean in Lyon. The mechanical spectacle comes from an... »

Astounding Timepieces | Edited by allison

Image of Georgia Guidestones located in Elberton, Georgia, US | The Georgia Guidestones
Elberton, Georgia, US

Georgia Guidestones

A mysterious monument meant to be a guide into "an Age of Reason."

In June of 1979, a man going by the pseudonym of R.C. Christian approached the Elberton Granite Finishing Company with the task of building a monument. He said that no one was to ever know his... »

Unusual Monuments, Astounding Timepieces, Long Now Locations, Outsider Architecture | Edited by tralfamadore and Dylan

Image of Mnajdra located in Mnajdra, Malta
Mnajdra, Malta

Mnajdra

Stone Age solar temple is aligned with the sun on each equinox and solstice

Mnajdra ("mna-ee-dra") is a Neolithic temple complex on the southern coast of Malta, less than a kilometer from the famous Hagar Qim temple. Built around the fourth millennium BCE, Mnajdra is... »

Astounding Timepieces, Instruments of Science, Retro-Tech, Curious Places of Worship, Incredible Ruins | Edited by Trevor, Dylan and others

Image of Clock Museum located in Vienna, Austria
Vienna, Austria

Clock Museum

A small museum filled with over 1,000 clocks, and one particular clock calibrated to run until the year 9999

The Viennese Clock Museum is housed in the Harfenhaus (Harpist's House), one of the oldest homes in Vienna. With around 1,000 clocks in all, there is much to see, from ornate pocket watches, to a... »

Museums and Collections, Unique Collections, Inspired Inventions, Astounding Timepieces, Long Now Locations | Edited by Dylan

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