Why is IIII used for indicating 4 o'clock instead of IV on the watch dial?
It is said that the origin goes back to the year 1364 in Paris.When the then French king, Charles V, saw the numeral IV on the clock on the tower in his palace, he disliked the way to express 4 by the roman numeral IV, because it seemed to him like V minus I(5 minus 1). He immediately ordered to change the IV to IIII. Since then using IIII on the dial/face has become the standard among watch makers. This is one of the rarely known episodes in our history.
