Yes! During the industrial revolution in Britain and Ireland, long before alarm clocks were affordable and plentiful, many people had to use this to wake up. What was it?

A: Knocker uppers!
A knocker-up, sometimes known as a knocker-upper, was a profession in Britain and Ireland that started during and lasted well into the Industrial Revolution, when alarm clocks were neither cheap nor reliable. A knocker-up’s job was to rouse sleeping people so they could get to work on time. By the 1940s and 1950s, this profession had died out, although it still continued in some pockets of industrial England until the early 1970s.

They used long sticks to tap on the window so not to wake up the whole house. Some used pea shooters so they didn’t have to carry around a big stick.

Today's question is

In a world of 7.8 Billion people, we all have a lot in common, yet only 20% of us do this. What is it?