Clocks by School of Art, George Mason University

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C K O L Ill u s

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CLOCKS

Written and Illustrated by Ibraheem Cattaneo

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te n

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C K O L Ill u s

tr at e d by I b r a h e e

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Copyright @ Text and Design 2020 Ibraheem Cattaneo All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, contact Ibraheem Cattaneo 20883 Sandstone Square Sterling, Virginia 20165 6

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To my family, Mom, Dad, Maryam, Noora, Nisa, Yusuf, and Alex. Thank you for keeping me sane through COVID - 19

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Dedication 8

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Contents

Introduction Clocks 12 The Hour

Timeline Time Begins

Mechanical Clocks Wells Clock 17

Pocket Watch Nuremberg 21 Mass Production 23 10:10

10:10 10:10 10:10 Pendulum Clocks Cuckoo Clock 26

10:10 Wristwatches Trench Watch

Elizabeth Tower 10:10 Kit-Cat Klocks

Quartz 10:10 Swatch

28 32

10:10 Alarm Clocks Westclox 41

Computers Atomic Time

The Inside

Smart

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;We're all travelling through time together, everyday of our lives. All we can do is do our best to relish this remarkable ride.â&#x20AC;? - About Time

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Nine million, nine hundred eightysix thousand minutes. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s how many minutes that youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve worked here. - The Office

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Introduction

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Travel through the past and into the future to explore how humans have measured the passage of time “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans,” This quote from John Lennon’s 1981 song Beautiful Boy encapsulates each of our relationships with time. In order to mark the passing of time, and to know what time it is at any given moment, we use clocks, watches, and calendars. Time in laymans terms is a measured period of when things happen or exist. We are constantly surrounded by time, in our everyday lives we use it to meet goals and to plan out our day. Time can even stand as a reminder of when things happened or what may happen in the future. Scientists believe the beginning of time started with the big bang, since then we have come up with many different timekeeping devices.

The big bang is said to have started started. Because pendulum clocks with a single point, the universe then were invented during this period stretched and expanded to the size of (you will learn more about pendulum the cosmos we know today some 13.8 clocks in a later chapter), accuracy billion years ago. Within the cosmos, a was not the issue. year is measured by the earth revolving The problem occurred when around the sun, one month is measured everyone set their clocks at noon, and by the moon revolving around the earth, noon happened at different times and one day is the earth rotating in almost every city across America. one time around its axis. The axis is This occurred because the sun is an imaginary line, at which the earth constantly moving, and when it is rotates, it measures directly through directly overhead in Boston it is not quite the center of the earth, stretching from there in New York. This was not that big the north pole to the south pole. Once of a deal when everyone traveled by you take into account all of this, you stagecoach, however, when individuals realize we live on one giant clock! start traveling by train, a delay in time could end in train collisions. This is why the railroad companies came up Although months and years are measured with railway time, this allowed for the by physical actions happening around us railroad companies to have only one in our solar system, other measurements time across the United States so that of time such as weeks, hours, and train stops could be on time seconds are more arbitrary. Because and precise. there is nothing physically real about In 1870, an individual by the name weeks, hours, and second, the reason of Charles Dowd proposed the system why they exist is so we can measure that is in use today. The system divides time in a more precise manner. The the country into four vertical time reason why all these things work zonesâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Pacific, Mountain, Central, and is because everyone agrees on the Eastern. Each of these zones is 15 specifics of when and how they degrees wide, because the earth rotates happen. However during the 1800s not 360 degrees each day, and if you divide everyone agreed on when the hour 360 by 24 hours you get 15 degrees.

The Hour

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Timeline

A Short History of Timekeeping Even though the simple question of “what time is it?” may seem self-explanatory today, it took our ancestors many years to figure it out. Once you can figure out how to measure time, you find out when to plant crops, when it is your birthday, and how to mark history. Below is a timeline of a few of the timekeeping devices that we invented before what we know as the clock today was invented. We begin the timeline with the start of the Egyptian lunar calendar, this was invented because they found out that it took the moon 30 days to go through all of its phases. However, because seasons are actually based on the cycles of the sun rather 14 Clocks

than the moon, in 2772 BCE–about 4,800 years ago–the Egyptians switched to a calendar based on the sun. This was called a solar calendar, and it proved more beneficial because it could better indicate when to plant crops. In between these two calendars being built, in England at around 3000 BCE Stonehenge was in construction. Many believe that Stonehenge could have been the first sundial, due to its large volume and geographical location. The timekeeping devices and systems invented in Asia and Europe during 100 BCE, although not very precise, worked perfectly for that time period. Farmers mostly worked from sunup to sundown, having little to no

use for timekeeping devices. However, the lack of accuracy in these methods proved to be a problem when the manufacturing of clothes, glassware, and iron tools grew. Sundials gave only a rough idea of time, and on cloudy days proved to be totally useless; the water used in water clocks would either evaporate in the summer, or freeze in the winter; and candle clocks were far from precise and extremely dangerous.

Sundials Lunar Calender

Stonehenge

Factories needed an error-free timekeeping device to track employee work hours and that was accessible to all. Ultimately, time keeping fell to the local churches, who told cities when it was time to come in from the fields and when it was time to leave work. Within this relatively recent chapter in world inventions, during the 1300 CE, we will look at one of the most unique and pivotal mechanical.

Water Clock 1092 AD

742 BCE

3000 BCE

4241 BCE

2772 BCE

1400 BCE

300 AD

Solar Calender

Candle Clock

Sand Glass Clock Clocks 15

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Peter Lightfoot

the transfer of power from the gears to create the ticks and tocks within a clock that we are so familiar with!

Wells Clock

Located in the Wells Cathedral in Wells, Somerset, England, is one of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first mechanical clocks. Built Well before the 1300s, Europeans between 1386 and 1392, the were using gears in machines that Wells Cathedral clock is they used in everyday life. For instance, the oldest continuously windmills and watermills would use working clock to date. and arrange gears in such a way that There are two clocks they could increase the power of wind located at the Wells and water to such an extent that they Cathedral; one clock could move millstones. Additionally, sits on the outside of the millstones were large circle slabs building and was created in of rock with tiny indents and grooves the 15th century or later. This clock that were used to grind grain. This is looks fairly conventional with 12 hour similar to a bicycle with multiple gears dials and roman numerals throughout. that can make pedaling easier when The second clock located in the going uphill, allowing for triforium of the cathedral is much the most amount of older and much more complex. This power down hill by clock is believed to have been built in adjusting the gears 1325 by Peter Lightfoot, a monk living in such a way. in Somerset. This clock in particular Clockmakers used is known as an astronomical clock, this same ideology because in addition to telling time can to create clocks also tell the motion of both the sun and using gears with the moon, the phases of the moon, and verge escapements, the time since the last full moon. This which allowed for clock predates Copernican views,

1298â&#x20AC;&#x201C;1368

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West front of Wells Cathedral

with the sun and the moon revolving on the inside of the Wells Cathedral around the earth. The design of this is the second oldest surviving clock clock shows 24 dials representing in England after the clock located the 24 hours in a day, each are in Salisbury Cathedral, also located labeled with roman numerals in in England. Although the Salisbury two consecutive sequences. The Cathedral is older than the Wells Wells clock also includes figures of Cathedral, the clock located in Salisbury knights that would joust every hour, was removed for roughly fifty years, on the hour. while the Wells has continuously run The Wells Cathedral required throughout its lifetime. Although the clocks because they would ring 7 or invention of mechanical clocks was 8 times a day, calling monks and other extraordinary during this medieval religious people to prayer. The clock time, they were far from accurate. 18 Clocks

The clock on the inside of the Wells Cathedral

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Peter Henlein 1485–1542

The Nuremberg Egg was created in 1505 by a German inventor, locksmith, and watchmaker named Peter Henlein from the German city Nuremberg. During this period, it was the renaissance for the city of Nuremberg, where invention of art and sciences were celebrated. Leading up to this period, in the 1400s, people began understanding the importance of clocks and timekeeping outside of prayer and work. Instead, individuals looked for a timepiece that they could carry while doing everyday activities or while they traveled. Because of this, clockmakers began trying to invent portable clocks. Although these clockmakers had figured out ways to better shape metal so that it could accompany smaller gears, they still needed the inclusion of long weighted cords. That was until Peter Henlein invented the simple concept of a spring, like that which you would find

on a pogo stick. However, Henlein molded a metal into a Cinnabon shape to work in place of weighted cords. Within this spring invention, Henlein invented the Nuremberg Egg, which allowed for the clock to be driven by what he called a “mainspring.” The design of the Nuremberg Egg required a hinged cover made of silver brass, rather than a crystal or glass face like we have today. Individuals would wear this clock around their necks like necklaces allowing them to conduct business all around the world and not worry about the weight-driven cords to give out during a bumpy carriage ride. A Nuremberg Egg was between the size of a mantel clock and the pocket watch–think of Flavor Flav. Soon after this invention, Europeans were buying watches in a frenzy, decorating many with expensive jewelry. Henlein’s invention of the spring was a great advancement of timekeeping, however, the clock still was not perfect. Mainspring’s clocks required their owners to rewind the spring several times a day and still the time was not nearly precise, slowing every few Clocks 21

hours. Although Henlein’s invention of the spring came a long way from falling weights as the source of power, the clock and the pocket watch were far from perfected. In 1675, during Charles II reign over England, he introduced the idea of a waistcoat. Why would this be important to a book about the history of clocks? Well, because early portable clocks like the Nuremberg Egg did not have a glass cover and would often break and falter when confronted with the elements outside. With the addition of a pocket in your coat, one could safely place their clock in their pocket once the weather became too testy. For sociatle reasons, women continued to wear their watches as pendants around their neck until the 20th century, and were even allowed to wear wristwatches before men, but read on to find out more about that. A clockmaker named Edward East took the new fashion symbol of a waistcoat and evolved the design of clocks to go along with it. He created something we could recognize today 22 Clocks

The oldest Nuremberg “clock-watch”

as being a pocket watch, with glass used to protect the watch’s face. East crafted these watches using decorated silver on the outside and gilded brass and blued steel on the inside. Although the design of watches had grown since Henlein’s inventions in 1505, the mechanics of a watch had not. The spring, although ingenious at the time, proved to be faulty due to the fact that the force provided by the spring to control the watch was not consistent, so these watches were not nearly as precise as you would imagine today. Due to East inventions and many others, the trend of watches grew and ultimately spawned new trends, such as the Watch Fob. The Watch Fob was essentially a chain that attached to our watch that allowed for easy access to the mechanism. Many men during this

period used this as an opportunity to show their social class by turning their fobs into elaborate jewelry. Each of East’s pocket watch creations were engraved on the watch’s back plate, allowing for many original pocket watches to be on display at the Metropolitan Museum in New York City.

balance spring using a balanced coal spring in 1657. Coil springs are still in use today on bikes and cars and are meant to harness and absorb energy that is created around them.

Mass production

During the 17th and 18th century, Britain ruled as the main producer for high quality watches. However, modernising clock manufacturing was not on the horizon As time passed, personal timekeeping until a series of inventions by a swiss devices became more and more precise, inventor from Geneva pioneered the the unevenness of the power made advancements of various mechanical by the mainspring, was balanced by tools, that allowed for the mass a balance spring, which allowed for production of clocks and watches. springs to get an even and consistent The United States created their own beat that is resistant to disturbance. system and implemented the swiss With the only mainspring that Henlein inventions to mass produce clocks. invented, clocks were off by a couple Companies in Connecticut were hours a day, while with a balanced producing millions of watches, so much spring, clocks were only off by a few min- so that the city of Naugatuck Valley utes. It is unclear on the exact date of earned the nickname, “Switzerland of the balance springs America.” However, in 1860 a period of invention, and is American ingenuity came to be when highly disputed who the United States started producing actually invented keyless clocks. A keyless clock was it. However, Robert a solution to the previous approach Hooke, a self-made of winding the balance spring architect, is said to through the use of a key, but was now have invented substituted by simply turning the the concept for a crown of the watch.

Robert Hooke

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Man Holding a Watch by Tommaso Manzuoli (1531â&#x20AC;&#x201C;1571)

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Galileo Galilei 1564â&#x20AC;&#x201C;1642

In 1637, five years before his death, the well-known astronomer and Italian inventor, Galileo Galilei invented the first pendulum clock. Galilei made this discovery while in church, noticing that the chandeliers which were hanging from chains took the same amount of time to swing back and forth no matter the distance. Galilei then tested this theory extensively in his own workshop, before concluding that swing objects could cover different distances in the

same amount of time. Galilei then sketched out the blueprint for a clock that uses this pendulum method to move the gears and tell time more precisely. Galilei was never able to build this clock due to his death in 1642, however years later a Dutch scientist unaware of Galileoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s findings built the first physical pendulum clock, dating back to 1656.

Cuckoo Clock

It is unknown who invented the first of these iconic timepieces known as the cuckoo clock, however many agree the clockâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s origin of invention took place in the southwestern region of Germany in the 1650s. The specifics of the region is a place known as Black Forest, which is a 100 mile Italian forest densely populated Astronomer and with only pine trees. It is Mathematician said that individuals from this Galileo Galilei area would sell cuckoo clocks during the winter months, to help supplement their incomes. The first cuckoo clock from this specific region is attributed to Franz Anton Ketterer, who was inspired by his village church organ to implement the Clocks 27

Black Forest was not able to fund this project, so Ketterer cuckoo he reached out to the editor and chef clock of a low-cost scientific magazine,

cuckoo sound within his clocks. The authentic clocks from this region used 100 percent wood to craft their clocks, which were carved into wooden gears. Using around 50 different knives and a jigsaw to carve and decorate these creations; these clocks are a testament to human ingenuity. Every cuckoo clock uses chains and weights to regulate the clock’s movement, much like what was done for the Wells Cathedral Clock (for more information visit page 13).

Alexander Bain

In the 1840, Alexander Bain had taken Galileo’s invention of the pendulum clock to the next level, making the clock completely electric by using electromagnetic impulses to keep the pendulum moving. However, during this period in Bain’s life, he

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Mechanics Magazine. The editor and chef had set up a meeting for Bain with an individual named Sir Charles Wheatstone. Wheatstone was a well known inventor and architect during the Victorian era. Bain demonstrated his models to Wheatstone and although at first Wheatstone had discouraged his idea, he later went behind Bain’s back to present this idea as his own. A long legal dispute ended with Bain being awarded 10 thousand dollars and the funding for his electric clock project, due to Wheatstone’s defamation. Bain would later improve on this electric clock method by the addition of a battery. With the success and recognition of the electric clock, Bain would also go on to invent the first fax machines.

Elizabeth Tower

Completed in 1859, this striking clock is located on the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London. Although referred to regularly by

Alexander Bain's electric clock

tourists as “Big Ben,” that nickname was only intended to signify the clock’s 13 ton bell on the inside, today many refer to the clock’s face and 315 feet tower by the same name. The origin of the nickname of this iconic clock is a little more unclear, many believe that name was given to represent the bells installer, Sir Benjamin Hall; however, others think the name could have been given to represent a famous english boxer from the period named Benjamin Caunt. Although not open to tourists, residents of the United Kingdom can take tours of the body of the Elizabeth Tower by contacting their member of parliament. Originally, this clock was named “Clock Tower,” however it was renamed Elizabeth Tower in 2012, to signify Queen Elizabeth’s II Diamond jubilee. A diamond jubilee is the 60th anniversary of an individual ascension to the throne. Designed by Augustus Pugin in the neo-gothic style, during the Elizabeth Tower completion, it resided as the largest clock tower in the world. The dials of the clocks face stand, at 23 diameters away from each other. In 1859, the clock tower stood as the most accurate four-faced striking and chiming clock in the world. The clock Clocks 29

The Elizabeth Tower

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A Kit-Cat Klock’s cameo in the 1985 film Back to the Future

still uses its victorian mechanism, but an electric motor was installed as a backup. Construction of the clock was initially intended for Edward John Dent, but because of his death, his step son Fredrick Dent took the job over and saw the completion of the construction. Once taking over the project in 1854, Fredrick expanded on his step father’s plans, by installing a Gravity Escapement, which allowed for separation between the clocks pendulum and the clocks mechanisms. 32 Clocks

Kit-Cat Klocks

Invented during the great depression by an Oregon designer named Earl Arnault, Kit-Cat Klocks brought joy to many American households during one of the toughest times in American history. Shortly after Arnault’s invention, the Allied Clock Company was formed in Portland, Oregon to manufacture these animated pendulum clocks. In the company’s infancy, they created the Kit-Cat’s unique look using metal to form the cat’s body, however, early

An original Kit-Cat Klock from 1932

on the company moved to Seattle, saying that one Kit-Cat Klock is sold Washington and changed its materials every three minutes for the past 50 to the increasingly popular plastic. In years. This is due largely to its adverthe 1950s the design of the cat was tisements; Kit-Cat Klock's are shown in changed a bit, with the addition of a movies, TV shows such as Sabrina the bow tie and two more paws to form the Teenage Witch, and advertisements, with catâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hands. its most memorable cameo happening This clock is a unique piece of in the opening scene of the 1985 movie American history with the company blockbuster Back To the Future. Clocks 33

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First World War 1914â&#x20AC;&#x201C;1918

Up until the 20th century women only wore wristwatches, while men stuck to the pocket watch. The concept of the wristwatch had been around and developed since the 16th century, yet they were marketed exclusively as female bracelets. There is proof that even Elizabeth I, who reigned as queen of England from 1558 until her death in 1603, received a wrist watch as a gift from a clockmaker, who presented it to her as an arm watch. This all changed with the first World War. Military men quickly saw the importance of synchronizing maneuvers during the war, which vastly changed the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s perception of the importance of timekeeping. Pocket watches could prove problematic in a high combat situation and in an aircraft,

but the watches designed during World War I were crafted with these situations in mind with light up clock faces and unbreakable glass.

Trench Watch

This Swiss-made trench watch was designed using white enamel and gold laced numerals, built for the first World War. During this time, a watch style known as a Trench Watch, became very prominent. Although referred to as wristlets during this period, these watches were built with trench warfare in mind. The watch faces were guarded by sterling silver in a hinged cage, these cages were designed in such a way that they did not obscure the numerals being displayed. However, the clock hands were not as visible and proved to

Sterling silver Trench Watch from 1918

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Luminous trench watch advertisement

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be problematic at times. This was a small price to pay for such ingenuity. Inventions such as plexiglass, allowed for these watches to be shatter resistant. Many trench watches featured the addition of engraved the names, titles, and places of these soldiers. Because dog tags existed during this time, individuals did not engrave their names simply for identification, these watches were a sense of pride. Many of the designs of the trench watches died out after the first World War, but these antiques are still highly soughtafter today, with many still standing as design masterpieces.

Quartz

At the beginning of the 20th century, clocks and watches had come a long way from sundials and candle clocks, in both design and inner mechanics. With the advancement of the mainspring and then the balance spring, as well as the keyless spring cranks, the clock had been all but perfected. However, like most things with

What cut Quartz Crystal looks like on the inside of clocks

moving parts, with time, things broke down and springs became permanently unsprung. Because of this, clockmakers turned away from gears, pendulums, and springs and found inspiration from electricity. Although electricity has surrounded us for millions of years, clockmakers wanted to figure out how to control electricity and have it interact with different objects. Unlike Alexander Bainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first electric clock which used electric magnetic pulses, scientists and horologists around 1880 discovered that if you ran an electric current through a certain type of crystals, the crystal Clocks 37

would vibrate at a steady pace. French scientists took this idea further and cut crystals in a specific shape which allowed for them to vibrate a particular frequency, when an electrical current ran through them. One crystal in particular vibrated at almost the exact same rate as time itself, the quartz. A quartz crystal would vibrate around 100,000 times a second no matter the temperature or air pressure, this results in about a second of an error every year!

Swatch

Although quartz watches started to regularly appear by the 1930s, like the early mechanical clocks, they were bulky and expensive. That all changed in the 1970s, when manufacturers learned to design quartz watches that ran on less power. The first generation watch was an analog watch that still used gears to move the hour and minute hand, which were powered by the quartz vibration. However, the amount of parts were greatly shrunk down and allowed for less friction and 38 Clocks

less opportunities for the clocks to break down. The vibration of a quartz is incredibly small, only being visible to a high-powered microscope. The swatch brand went on to balloon the ingenuity of its first generation watch. This watch incorporated two booming markets during the 1970s: plastic, which allowed for unique and modern designs to be printed atop vibrant colors at a low cost, and quartz. From 1974 to 1983 the powerhouse for clock making was no longer the Swiss; the invention of quartz technology wreaked havoc on the Swissâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; clock production. Where Switzerland fell short during this period, and Japan picked up that slack with the watch manufacturing company called Seiko. No other country embraced Quartz more quick than Tokyo, that is evident with Seiko, first with their analog watches then their digital watches. Digital watches work a little different then analog, also becoming available in the 1970s, digital watches used circuits to translate the quartz vibration into an illuminated electronic display. Because less space was used, watches like the one Seiko produced featured calculators, alarms, stopwatches and other features.

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Westclox Company 1948

In 1831 the first electric doorbell was invented by using a tightly coiled electromagnetic spring that forced a magnet to hit a bell, which created the first alarm clock noise we all have come to hate through many early mornings. The biggest turning point in creating an alarm clock specifically used to wake its user, was the Westclox alarm called the Moonbeam. The Moonbeam was released in 1948, and what made this clock so unique was that it not only alarted its users to wake up by blaring an alarm, but it also flashed a light as a precursor to the alarm. Westclox was a pivotal player in the invention of the alarm clock, as well as clocks in general. It is known most

Westclox Big Ben alarm clock famously for the model known as Big Ben, which created the first booming alarm clock sound that we would recognize today. Additionally, the Drowse, which allowed for a snooze function, was Westcloxâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s popular alarm clock, due to its technological advancements beyond hand cranking. Clocks 41

The Anatomy of an

Alarm Clock

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Westclox alarm clock advertisement

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