Words

Clockwise - common enough word and we all know what it means - it's the direction the hands go round on a clock,  But have you ever stopped and wondered why?  Why do the hands on a clock go round that way?  There's no mechanical reason for it - it's equally simple to make a clock where they go round the other way.  Well, before there were clocks, if you wanted to mark the passage of time, you stuck a stick in the ground and watched it's shadow as it moved round - and which way did it move round?  Here in the northern hemisphere, it would circulate clockwise.  And you might progress to a proper stone sundial.but the shadow would still go round clockwise.  So when they started making clocks, here in Europe, which way would they automatically make the hands move?