Source: CounterPunch
by David S D’Amato
“In 1336, Milan was expanding to become one of the richest and most important cities in all of Europe. From the end of the 13th century, it was ruled by a powerful dynasty that would go on to found the Duchy of Milan, a major state that would remain intact until Napoleon’s armies swept across Europe centuries later. That year, Milan cemented its position as a burgeoning technological powerhouse by introducing ‘the first documented hour-striking clock in a public setting.’ … Until then, time was conceived not as fixed and linear, as a standardized grid within which to situate the tasks of daily life — rather the tasks of daily life were the clock, dictating and defining time rather than the inverse. The prevailing model of time was as something relativistic, informed by patterns in nature that were not rigid and unmoving.” (01/03/25)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/01/03/the-emergence-of-time-as-a-social-force/