Facts about Big Ben
1. It is a common misunderstanding that Big Ben is the tower but it is the name for the huge bell on the Clock Tower but is usually referred to clock tower also.
2. The Clock Tower is set near the London Parliament building, next to Thames River.
3. Big Ben is one of the biggest four-faced clock in the world.
4. The watch was put into operation in 1859, on September 7.
5. Big Ben is placed just above the clocks on the top of the tower.
6. Big Ben is the name of the largest of the five bells in the same Palace of Westminster.
7. Since its inception in 1859, it serves as the most accurate and reliable clock in London.
8. It took 16 years to completely built the Elizabeth tower.
9. Every year the clock is adjusted according to English Old Penny.
10. Visitors are not allowed to enter the Clock Tower but residents of UK are allowed but only with the help of Member of Parliament.
11. The accuracy of the Big Ben move is regulated with a stack of old one-penny coins weighing one and a half grams, which are placed on the pendulum.
12. Each coin that is placed adds 2/5 of a second to the clock.
13. The height of the numbers on the Big Ben dials is 60 cm.
14. The Clock Tower was outlined by Sir Charles Barry and Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin.
15. The first bell for tower weighed 16 tons but it got cracked while testing so new bell of 13.5 tons was made.
16. The diameter of the dial is seven meters.
17. Each dial is composed of 312 pieces of opal glass.
18. Big Ben is the most popular attractions in UK.
19. The sound of chimes can be heard within a radius of 8 kilometers.
20. After the fire in Palace of Westminster in October 1834, it was destroyed by fire, so they decided to make new Parliament with a clock tower.
21. For new Parliament, more than 400 designs were submitted by 90 architects.
22. The minute hand of Big Ben passes a distance of 190 km per year.
23. The watch was erected in 1859, on September 7.
24. Big Ben has three birthdays.
25. The first 61 meters of the tower with the clock is of bricks and stones, and the rest of the tower is made of cast iron.
26. It took 2 weeks to cool the Big Ben and after it was done it was transported on a horse carriage.
27. During the Parliamentary session, the dial of clock highlights differently.
28. In 1859, a crack occurred in the bell after that the hammer of lighter weight was put.
29. The tower is leaned 8.66 inches to the north-west.
30. A pendulum weighing 300 kg and a length of almost 4 meters.
31. The bell is approximately 9 inches thick.
32. The bell of the tower did not stop working even during the Second World War.
33. Big Ben has rung through the rule of six monarchs.
34. The bell was original to be called Royal Victoria.
35. Between the creation and commissioning of the clock went a very long time, which was accompanied by a number of problems: lack of financing, delays in delivery, incorrect calculations of the weight, and much more.
36. Every year at 11 o’clock, on the 11 November, Big Ben ring out, in honor of the armistice and the end of the World War I.
37. If Big Ben was built today, it would cost $ 200,000 US dollars.
38. The bell weighs more than 13.5 tons and is today the second largest in Britain.
39. Because of the birds that sat on the arrow, in 1949 the clock began to lag for four minutes.
40. All the bells of Clock Tower were silenced in respect of Margaret Thatcher’s, former British Prime Minister funeral.
41. The hour hand has a length of 3.2 meters (8 feet) in length, the length of the minute hand is 4.3 meters (14 feet).
42. There were made many attempts to destroy the landmark but only stone and ironwork was destroyed, nothing happened to clock.
43. In the year 1932, at the time of King George V’s Christmas broadcast, the bell chimes were broadcasted internationally.
44. In 1961, during the war, the bell was silenced at night for two years to keep it safe from attack.
45. The first failure with Big Ben occurred in 1976, it happened after 100 years of continuous work. In 1977, the landmark was again put into work.
46. To get to the bell you need to climb the 334 limestone steps.
47. In 2009 the 150th anniversary of the clock tower was celebrated.
48. The total height of the Big Ben is 96.3 m. This is higher than the Statue of Liberty in New York.
49. In 2012, Big Ben chimed 40 times for 3 minutes, in honor of the start of the Olympic Games in London.
50. The Clock Tower was featured in many famous TV shows and movies.
51. The bell rings in every 15 minutes.
52. The best-selling souvenir among tourists in London is a miniature copy of Big Ben.
53. From 1939 to 1945, the dial of the clock did not light. This was done as a preventive measure to help protect it from attack during the World War II.
54. For the first time, the sound of Big Ben’s chimes was broadcast by the BBC on the eve of the new year, 1924, and this tradition continues till today.
55. In June 2012, the clock tower was named ‘Elizabeth Tower’ in honor of Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee.
56. In every 5 years, clock faces are cleaned.
57. 7-meter dials are installed on all four sides of the clock tower.
58. On each dial, an inscription is engraved in Latin “God Save Our Queen Victoria I”.
59. The clock machine was designed by not any clockmaker rather by a lawyer Edmund Beckett Denison.
60. Why it is called ‘Big Ben’ is still unknown.
Facts about Big Ben