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The cannon dial, Pena Castle, Sintra, Portugal

The cannon dial, also known as the noonday gun, is the first natural timekeeper with an alarm setting. It consists of a small cannon and a lens mounted on a horizontal dial. As the sun passes through high noon, its rays are concentrated through the precisely positioned magnifier, igniting a small amount of gunpowder and setting off the gun

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Uploaded on August 3, 2012
Taken on July 6, 2012