thumb|right|A time ball, installed in 1833, atop the Octagon Room at the [[Royal Observatory, Greenwich, London]]

A time ball is a large, wooden or metal ball that moves up and down a pole, and which is dropped at a predetermined time of day. Because precise timekeeping is essential to the determination of longitude at sea, time balls were principally erected to allow navigators aboard nearby ships to synchronize their marine chronometers with a reference time standard controlling the ball. Others followed in the major ports of the United Kingdom (including Liverpool) and around the maritime world. Wauchope submitted his scheme to American and French ambassadors when they visited England.

A contemporary version of the concept has been used since 31 December 1907 at New York City's Times Square as part of its New Year's Eve celebrations; at 11:59 p.m., a lit ball descends from a pole on the roof of One Times Square over the course of 60 seconds, reaching its conclusion at 12:00 a.m. The spectacle—which has given rise to many similar events—was inspired by an employee of The New York Times having seen the time ball on the Western Union Building in operation.

Around the world

Over sixty time balls remain standing, though many are no longer operational. Existing time balls include:

Australia

thumb|[[Sydney Observatory with time ball]]

  • The Old Windmill, Brisbane, Queensland
  • Fremantle, Western Australia
  • Sydney Observatory, New South Wales
  • Newcastle Customs House, New South Wales
  • Semaphore, South Australia
  • Williamstown Lighthouse, Victoria
  • Geelong Telegraph Station, Victoria

Canada

  • Citadelle of Quebec, Quebec City no longer true.

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.

New Zealand

thumb|right|The time ball at [[Lyttelton, New Zealand|Port Lyttelton, New Zealand, started signalling Greenwich Mean Time to ships in the harbour beginning in 1876. The Lyttelton Timeball Station was destroyed by an earthquake in 2011 but was rebuilt and reopened in 2018. ]]

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 the Ferry Building in August 1901.

  • Port Chalmers: Established by the Otago Provincial Council on top of Observation Point in Port Chalmers in June 1867 the time 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.
  • Lyttelton: Established in December 1876 the Lyttelton Timeball Station in Lyttelton, New Zealand, was operational until it was damaged in the 2010 Canterbury earthquake. Further severe damage occurred in the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake, and a decision was made in March 2011 to dismantle the building, a danger to the public, but the tower collapsed during the major aftershock that hit the Lyttelton area on 13 June 2011. In November 2012, a large financial donation 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.

thumb|J Shed, Wellington Woolstore, showing the Time Ball at its second site

thumb|upright|The Time Light arrangement at [[Dominion Observatory, Wellington|Dominion Observatory in Wellington ]]

  • Wellington:The Wellington time ball service started in March 1864. Dunedin used local observatory facilities. and later relocated in 1888 to the J Shed Woolstore on top of the accumulator tower. Instead of replacing the Wellington time ball after the second site burnt down, time light signals were introduced at the Dominion Observatory. The earliest record of this was 22 February 1912. They were in use until 1937 when wireless signals took over as the new way to keep time.
  • The Royal House of the Post Office in Puerta del Sol, Madrid, formerly operated a time ball for Madrid. The ball continues to be activated annually at midnight on New Year's Eve, serving as the traditional focal point for celebrations in the country.

United Kingdom

  • Timeball Tower, Deal, Kent, England. Operates hourly and has recently been refurbished.
  • Margate Clock Tower, Kent, England
  • Royal Observatory, Greenwich, England
  • Time Ball Buildings, Leeds, England
  • Guildhall, Kingston upon Hull, England. The only maritime timepiece on a municipal building. It dates back to 1918 and is the highest in the UK.
  • Clock Tower, Brighton, East Sussex, England. (originally operated hourly, but was later stopped as it was too noisy)
  • Nelson's Monument on Calton Hill, Edinburgh, Scotland
  • Flat Iron Building in Prescot, Merseyside. Added during restoration of the building, the timeball dates from the 1800s but is controlled by a newly-built mechanism.

United States

  • United States Naval Observatory, Washington D.C.
  • Titanic Memorial, New York City
  • Plymouth Light, Gurnet Point, Plymouth, Massachusetts

<gallery class="center" widths="200px" heights="225px">

File:Nelson Monument.jpg|The Nelson Monument, Edinburgh, UK

File:US Naval Observatory (Washington, District of Columbia).jpg|United States Naval Observatory, Washington, D.C., US

File:Deal Timeball Tower.jpg|Deal Timeball, Deal, UK

File:Nowy Port Gdansk-kula czasu latarnia.png|Gdańsk, Poland

File:Time ball on Navigationsskolan Gbg.jpg|Gothenburg, Sweden

File:Guildhall Timeball, Kingston upon Hull, Jun23.jpg|Guildhall, Kingston upon Hull, UK

File:Madrid - Puerta del Sol 01.JPG|Royal House of the Post Office, Madrid, Spain

File:MARGATE CLOCK TOWER AND TIME BALL.jpg|Clock tower, Margate, Kent, UK

File:Brighton_Clock_Tower.jpg|Clock tower, Brighton, UK

File:Time-ball tower, Cape Town.jpg|Time ball, Cape Town, South Africa

File:Fort_Gellibrand.jpg|Time ball, Williamstown Lighthouse, Victoria, Australia

</gallery>

See also

  • Blackhead Point, in Hong Kong, where a time ball was operated from 1908 to 1933
  • History of longitude
  • Shepherd Gate Clock
  • Time signal
  • Weather ball
  • Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)
  • Times Square Ball

References

  • List of time balls worldwide in 1876.
  • Time ball/cannon hobbyist
  • Time ball and cannon Association