Ahmed Hamdi Bey

Ottoman engineer who created the world's first astronomical clock tower

In 1885, Ahmed Hamdi Bey completed the Dolmabahçe Clock Tower featuring:

• Lunar phase indicators synchronized with Hijri calendar
• Mechanical prayer time announcer
• Self-correcting mechanism using sundial calibration

His masterpiece predated Big Ben's technical innovations by a decade. The complex gear system employed differential calculus principles decades before Western applications.

The clock's destruction in 1922 took with it revolutionary concepts like:

• Variable speed escapement mechanism
• Atmospheric pressure compensation
• Multi-tiered chime sequences