John Harrison (24 March 1693 – 24 March 1776) was a self-educated English carpenter and later a clockmaker. He invented the marine chronometer, a long-sought device in solving the problem of establishing the East-West position or longitude of a ship at sea, thus revolutionising and extending the possibility of safe long distance sea travel in the Age of Sail. The problem was considered so intractable that the British Parliament offered a prize of £20,000 (comparable to £2.87 million in modern currency) for the solution.
Harrison came 39th in the BBC's 2002 public poll of the 100 Greatest Britons.
Read more about John Harrison: Early Life, Career, The First Three Marine Timekeepers, The Longitude Watches, Memorials, Subsequent History, In Television & Drama
Famous quotes containing the word harrison:
“I am advised that there is an unexpended balance of about $45,000 of the fund appropriated for the relief of the sufferers by flood upon the Mississippi River and its tributaries, and I recommend that authority be given to use this fund to meet the most urgent necessities of the poorer people in Oklahoma.”
—Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901)