Published on: 2026-06-28
Weird Inventions and Technology
Which bizarre 19th-century invention was designed to act as a personal alarm clock by literally poking the user with rhythmic thumps?
Correct
The Bed-Hitting Machine was a patented device created by Samuel Floyd in 1882 to solve the problem of sleeping in through an alarm. It worked by using a clock mechanism to mechanically beat the mattress or the sleeper behind the knees. The Clockwork Face-Slapper, the Steam-Powered Elbow-Getter, and the Automated Pillow-Puncher are totally made-up nonsense that sound funny but never actually existed in the annals of strange engineering history.