Which scientific property did Christiaan Huygens apply in 1656 to create the first truly accurate pendulum clock?

The pendulum’s consistent swing period

The quest for improved accuracy in mechanical timekeeping ultimately led to the realization that the regulator needed to be far more reliable than the imprecise escapements used in early tower clocks. Christiaan Huygens, a Dutch scientist, recognized that the natural period of a pendulum’s swing is remarkably consistent, depending primarily on its length, regardless of minor variations in the driving force. In 1656, he integrated this physical property into clock design, resulting in the pendulum clock. This integration drastically enhanced precision, reducing timekeeping errors from several minutes per day down to often less than a minute per day, establishing a new benchmark for accuracy based on reliable physical laws.