A Tower Clock Named Big Ben

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I believe most everyone knows about or has heard about a clock named Big Ben that strikes the hours in London, England. This popular clock sits atop of the 32-foot-high St. Stephen’s Tower. It first started striking the hours on May 31, 1859 over the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, London. When a fire destroyed a great part of the Palace of Westminster which is the headquarters of the British Parliament in October 1834 the main feature of the design for the new palace was a large clock atop of a tower. Sir George Airy who was the royal astronomer wanted the clock to be precise and be checked two times a day for accuracy with the Royal Greenwich Observatory. However clockmakers deemed this as being an impossible task so Airy relied upon Edmund Beckett Denison who was an expert in the science of measuring time. Denison designed a clock which was then built by E.J. Dent & Co. It is interesting to note that the clock was completed in 1854 but St. Stephen’s Tower was built five years later. The clock bell weighs over 13 tons and was taken to the tower through the London streets by a team of 16 horses with plenty of people cheering them on. Unfortunately once the clock started striking it only took two months and the bell cracked. After another three years a lighter hammer was added and the clock was back in business. Now the bell was rotated so each time the hammer would be striking another surface but the crack was never repaired. At first the name Big Ben referred to only the bell but later to the clock itself. It is not certain whom the clock was named after. The clock keep accurate by having a stack of coins place on its huge pendulum in order to ensure steady movement of its hands at all times. The clock has four faces and at night all of them are illuminated so if you look up you’ll always know what time it is. Above Big Ben a special light is lit so that they public knows when Parliament is in session. Has anyone been to London? Who lives in the U.K.? http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/big-ben-goes-into-operation-in-london