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John Harrison (24 March 1693 – 24 March 1776) was an English clockmaker. He invented the marine chronometer, a long-sought and critically-needed key piece in solving the problem of accurately establishing the East-West position, or longitude, of a ship at sea, thus revolutionising and extending the possibility of safe long distance sea travel in the Age of Sail. The problem was considered so intractable that the British Parliament offered what was at the time a huge fortune for a solution, a prize of £20,000 (roughly £6 million or €7.7 million in 2007 terms).
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