We all have some memory of watching a
rocket launch (or perhaps specifically a
space shuttle launch) on
television or in the
movies, complete with the requisite anticipatory counting down to the very moment at which the launch is scheduled. Pretty self-explanatorily, a
countdown clock is a clock which counts down to a coming
date or particular
happening -- usually a lot farther out that the sort of counts contemplated by space vessel launchers. Nowadays you can essentially pick an important upcoming date out of a hat and find a website offering an online digital counter ticking towards that set time.
By way of example....
....
here's an "Election 2016" clock counting down to the end of the most interminable election in memory....
....
a jolly-themed clock counting down to Christmas....
....
one counting down the days until Inauguration Day (
here's another counting down to the same date, framed as the day Barack Obama leaves office....)
....
here's a rosey one for Valentine's Day.
Obviously it is helpful for some to have this device as a handy reminder. I thought of the topic at all because I have an event of importance coming up on
a set date in the future, and was curious as to how many days away that would be for me. I pitched about a bit and found that the easiest thing to do to count down towards that date was to just grab that Inauguration Day link and mentally add seven to it. Naturally, apps abound allowing you to
create your own.