It's also interesting to note that time zones are a construct of the modern world because they weren't needed until the last 120 years or so. All time was "local time" before then. Since most people never traveled more than a few miles from where they lived, they were perfectly content to measure time based on the sun or the local church bells.
This history of time is interesting in this country, too. Before railroads, time could be different from town to town, even nearby towns, and no one much cared.
But once the railroads got started, and time schedules became important, uniform time-keeping caught on.
We consistently question how our ancestors managed without our modern inventions. They actually began the inventing.
First of all, they didn’t need ‘hourly’ increments of their daily lives. They rose with the sun, and slept when it set. Hunters and gatherers understood the seasons for weather, food and shelter.
Curses on the guy who began 9 to 5 !!!!!!
There was a significant drive in the nautical industry for accurate time measurements which drove much of the advance. Without the ability it was impossible to determine longitude.
Latitude could be determined by the position of celesitial objects position to the north/south horizon, but longitude could only be determined in transit once there were accurate time pieces.
Oil drops were actually one of the first means to more accuratelly demark the time if I recall correctly.