Rain Gauges History

The earliest rain gauge was invented by the son of King Sejong the Great from China in 1441. King Sejong was always trying to come up with new ways to improve the agricultural technology in his villages. When his son, King Munjong took over the villages, he invented the first rain gauge while measuring the rain at his palace. He thought that his invention was so great that he decided to send a rain gauge to every single village. The measurements that were gathered from the rain gauges were reported and used to measure the farmer’s harvest as well as their land taxes. Aren’t you glad that is not how it is today! The second rain gauge was invented about 200 years later by a European named Christopher Wren. The gauge that he made was a tipping bucket rain gauge. Over the years, rain gauges have evolved and now there are numerous types in many colors and styles.