BIANCHI, SimoneSimoneBIANCHI2023-01-232023-01-2320209788833394022http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12386/32974Abstract: I review a century of time signal in Florence, starting from the 1850s when true solar time from the clock on the tower of Palazzo Vecchio was transmitted telegraphically to the railway stations of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. At the onset of Italian Unification, midday was signaled to the city by means of a flag lowered on the Torrino, the tower of the old Astronomical Observatory of Florence. In the short period when Florence was the Italian Capital (1865-1871), the time signal from the Torrino served to regulate com- munication and transport services in the nation; after that, it continued as a city service only. At the end of the 19th century, the flag was substituted by the firing of the votapentole cannon from the Belvedere Fortress. From the Great War, the service began to be regulated by the astronomers of the newer Arcetri Observatory. Except for a brief interruption during the Second World War, the time signal continued until the early 1950s.ELETTRONICOenConference paper10.12871/978883339402252https://www.torrossa.com/it/resources/an/4710776FIS/08 - DIDATTICA E STORIA DELLA FISICA