During the 19th century, the British Empire covered about 10,000,000 square miles populated by 400 million people. The only real superpower of the Victorian era, England's reach was due to its domination of the sea. How did they do it? Through innovations in timekeeping. In the late 15th century, when Christopher Columbus was exploring the globe, primitive sand or sandglass clocks were used to mark time in half-hour increments. Since the...Continue Reading