After the snooze button is hit, how long does it typically take for an alarm to sound again?
And the answer: nine minutes.
The standard setting for snooze buttons is nine minutes. Why? When first developed, the snooze function had to be incorporated into the existing gears of a small alarm clock, and keeping the time period in single digits was easier for the engineers.
While alarm clocks are some of the most universally despised inventions of the modern day, their necessity in everyday life can be traced back centuries. Clocks that drip water, mechanisms which drop pebbles, and alarms triggered to strike gongs are just some of the many creative wake-up calls that have been used for millennia. However, it wasn't until 1787 that alarm clocks took on the form we know them today. Levi Hutchins, an American farmer, created a device to wake him up every day at 4 AM. Primarily intended for farmers, the alarm clock didn't receive a patent (or any other timed options) for another hundred years.
By the time World War II rolled around, American factories had to turn away from the production of consumer items like alarms clocks and instead focus on the war effort. Yet, in November 1944, the clocks were one of the first products manufacturers resumed creating for civilian use. By that time, a critical shortage of alarm clocks had developed due to older clocks wearing out or breaking down. Workers were late for, or missed completely, their scheduled shifts in jobs critical to the war effort, so returning to their production was considered paramount.
Learn more about the history of alarm clocks below, or check out this article.
