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:
“When and under what conditions is the black man to have a free ballot? When is he in fact to have those full civil rights which have so long been his in law?”
—Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901)