Stopwatches were first developed about a century ago, when automobiles starting getting fast enough to make people want to time them. The Heuer company, which later teamed with TAG to form TAG-Heuer, is credited with inventing the first precision stopwatches. In 1916, Heuer debuted the Micrograph, which was accurate to 1/100th of a second.

Around the time of the Industrial Revolution, America became obsessed with time. Managers wanted to slow it down, while factory workers wanted to speed it up. It was the first time in US history that the majority of the population had to be synchronized--people were moving from agrarian jobs into factories that ran by the clock. Stopwatches were a common sight on many assembly lines.

Stopwatches For Sports

The accuracy of stopwatches has always been important in sporting events, especially during the advent and early years of automobile racing. Skiing also required an accurate timing system around this same time, and the first mechanical stopwatches were developed with a sportsman in mind. Over the years, the precision and functionality have improved tremendously.

Today, you can find stopwatches for a number of specific events. The old "60 Minutes" analog clocks are fine for when you are only timing a single activity. If you need other functions, like split times, countdown alarms, or multiple-event capabilities, there are a number of digital stopwatches available.