Google Doodle celebrates 325th anniversary of the birth of John Harrison

Today marks the 325th anniversary of the birth of the English watchmaker-inventor John Harrison .

Marine chronometer

In 1714, the British government awarded an award of £ 20,000 ($ 4.7 million on modern money) to someone who would come up with a mechanism that would help seafarers determine the longitude and show their location to within 1 degree.

Twenty years later, in 1734, watchmaker John Harrison introduced his invention - a marine chronometer. He won the contest and received the promised reward. Since then, sailors have become better at navigating the sea, and the number of ships that have not returned from sailing has decreased. The four Harrison chronometers are still in operation and are kept at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.