Atime ball is a large, wooden or metal ball that is dropped at a predetermined time of day.Because precise timekeeping is essential to the determination oflongitude at sea, time balls were principally erected to allow navigators aboard nearby ships to synchronize theirmarine chronometers with a reference time standard controlling the ball.[1]Time balls have been rendered obsolete by electronictime signals, but some are kept in operation astourist attractions.
The fall of a ball was in antiquity a way to show to people the time. Ancient Greek clocks had this system in the main square of a city, as in the city ofGaza in the post-Alexander era, and as described byProcopius in his book on Edifices.Time ball stations set their clocks according to transit observations of the positions of the sun and stars. Originally they either had to be stationed at theobservatory, or had to keep a very accurate clock at the station which was set manually to observatory time. Following the introduction of the electrictelegraph around 1850, time balls could be located at a distance from their source ofmean time and operated remotely.[1]
The Boston Time Ball (1881)
The first modern time ball was erected atPortsmouth, England, in 1829 by its inventorRobert Wauchope, a captain in theRoyal Navy.[2] Others followed in the major ports of the United Kingdom (includingLiverpool) and around the maritime world.[2] One was installed in 1833 at theGreenwich Observatory in London by theAstronomer Royal,John Pond, originally to enable tall ships in the Thames to set their marine chronometers,[3][1] and the time ball has dropped at 1 p.m. every day since then.[4] Wauchope submitted his scheme to American and French ambassadors when they visited England.[2] TheUnited States Naval Observatory was established in Washington, D.C., and the first American time ball went into service in 1845.[2]
Time balls were usually dropped at 1 p.m. (although in the United States they were dropped at noon). They were raised half way about 5 minutes earlier to alert the ships, then with 2–3 minutes to go they were raised the whole way. The time was recorded when the ball began descending, not when it reached the bottom.[4]With the commencement ofradio time signals (in Britain from 1924), time balls gradually became obsolete and many were demolished in the 1920s.[5]
A contemporary version of the concept has been used since 31 December 1907 atNew York City'sTimes Square as part of itsNew Year's Eve celebrations; at 11:59 p.m., alit ball descends from a pole on the roof ofOne Times Square over the course of 60 seconds, reaching its conclusion at 12:00 a.m. The spectacle—which has given rise to manysimilar events—was inspired by an organizer having seen the time ball on theWestern Union Building in operation.[6][7]
Clearly seen from the river and aligned on the meridian for observation purposes, Building 20, also known as the Ball House, is the former observatory and time ball tower.
In March 1864 New Zealand's first time ball was established at Wellington. This was followed by Port Chalmers in June 1867, Wanganui in October 1874, Lyttelton in December 1876 and Timaru in 1888. Attempts were made by some people in Auckland to establish time balls there from 1864 onwards, but these were not recognized by the authorities until a permanent time ball was mounted on theFerry Building in August 1901.
Port Chalmers
Established by the Otago Provincial Council on top ofObservation Point inPort Chalmers in June 1867 thetime ball service initially operated at 1 pm on all days of the week except Sundays. The service was discontinued in October 1877, but following concerns raised by 11 shipmasters the service resumed in April 1882 as a weekly service. In 1910 the time keeping service was discontinued but the ball however continued to be used until 1931 as a warning device. It was removed in 1970 but a replacement was restored to service in 2020.[9]
Lyttelton
Established in December 1876 theLyttelton Timeball Station inLyttelton, New Zealand, was operational until it was damaged in the2010 Canterbury earthquake. Further severe damage occurred in the February2011 Christchurch earthquake,[10] and a decision was made in March 2011 to dismantle the building, a danger to the public,[11] but the tower collapsed during themajor aftershock that hit the Lyttelton area on 13 June 2011.[12] In November 2012, a large financial donation[13] was made available to contribute towards rebuilding the tower, a project the community considered. On 25 May 2013, it was announced that the tower and ball would be restored, and that funds were to be sought from the community to rebuild the rest of the station. The station was officially reopened on 2 November 2018.[14][15]
Wellington
The Wellington time ball service started in March 1864.[9] It received its time information from theDominion Observatory which was also communicated to the Lyttelton time ball service.[16]Dunedin used local observatory facilities.[9]
Wellington had two time ball sites – the time ball was erected at the first site by mid-January 1864 on top of the Custom House building on the Wellington waterfront[17] and later relocated in 1888 to the J Shed Woolstore on top of theaccumulator tower.[9] This building and the time ball burnt down on 9 March 1909.[18]
J Shed, Wellington Woolstore, showing the Time Ball at its second sitec. 1900
Instead of replacing the Wellington time ball after the second site burnt down, time light signals were introduced at theDominion Observatory. The earliest record of this was 22 February 1912.[19] They were in use until 1937 when wireless signals took over as the new way to keep time.[16]
Gdańsk, Poland (The time ball was installed in 1876, moved to the Danzig (now Gdańsk) lighthouse in 1894, and removed in 1929. In 2008 it was reconstructed from original plans)[5]
TheRoyal House of the Post Office inPuerta del Sol,Madrid, operated a time ball for Madrid. Nowadays it is only used to mark the imminent start of the bell strikes that mark the New Year at midnight. The main Spanish TV networks broadcast the event, allowing spectators to eat the traditionalTwelve Grapes.
Flat Iron Building inPrescot,Merseyside. Added during restoration of the building, the timeball dates from the 1800s but is controlled by a newly-built mechanism.[23]
^abKinns, Roger (2017). "The Time Light Signals of New Zealand: Yet Another Way of Communicating Time in the Pre-Wireless Area".Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage.20 (2):211–222.doi:10.3724/SP.J.1440-2807.2017.02.06.S2CID217198680.
^"Hull Guildhall's Time Ball set to rise and fall once again".BBC News. BBC.Archived from the original on 28 January 2019. Retrieved19 October 2018.The ball is one of just a few nationally and is the only maritime timepiece on a municipal building. It dates back to 1918 and is the highest in the UK.
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