The Clockmakers of Prague

The Astronomical Clock on Prague's Old Town Hall has been running, with interruptions, since 1410. Its oldest parts were built by Mikuláš of Kadaň, working from calculations by the astronomer Jan Šindel.

Legend says the city blinded the clockmaker so he could never build another. The legend is almost certainly false, and it has outlived every correction.

What makes the clock remarkable is not its accuracy but its ambition: it tracks the sun, the moon, the zodiac, and an older Bohemian hour system that began counting at sunset.