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George Graham was born in Cumberland, England in 1674. A clockmaker by trade, his designs for clocks and watches earned him membership in the Royal Society and were still manufactured into the 20th century. After his apprenticeship in London, he was taken on by the famous watchmaker Thomas Tompion, and eventually inherited his reputation as the best watchmaker of his time. The most famous invention attributed to him is the Orrery, a mechanical model of the solar system, commissioned by and named after Charles Boyle, 4 th Earl of Orrery, but he was also a master of precision. His highly accurate 8 foot (or 2.4m) quadrant built for the royal astronomer Edmund Halley (of comet fame), was widely copied, and his most important invention, the micrometer screw enabled him to build instruments which required a great deal of exactness. Some of his other notable achievements include perfecting the cylinder escapement and inventing the dead-beat escapement. An escapement is the part of a watch or clock that connects and regulates the movement of the working mechanical parts inside it. He died in 1751 and is buried in Westminster Abbey, London.
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