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12 Why Do Clocks Run Clockwise?

We all watch clocks closely, but have you ever wondered why their hands

move from left to right?

The reason comes from sundials, which were used to tell time thousands

of years ago. A sundial has a stick that casts a shadow. In the Northern
Hemisphere, where sundials were first used, the shadow moved from
left to right as the Sun moved across the sky. So, when people invented

mechanical clocks in the 14th century, they made the hands move in the
same direction as the sun’s shadow — what we now call clockwise.

If clocks had been invented in the Southern Hemisphere, where the Sun

appears to move in the opposite direction, the hands might have moved
right to left!

Also, in some cultures like Arabic and Hebrew, where writing goes from
right to left, there are even clocks that run anti-clockwise!

So next time you look at your watch, remember — it follows the path of

the Sun!

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