Today in History: Big Ben Rings Out!
If you are walking around Westminster, London at high noon, you will still be in for the sound; you can’t help but stop and listen to the loud, symbolic chimes of one of the greatest clock bells in the world — Big Ben made all the more remarkable in the digital age, where we have come to expect accuracy and precision of time told on our digital, portable devices.
Did you know that Big Ben, the iconic London clock tower, went into operation for the first time on May 31st, 1859? Designed by Edmund Beckett Denison and built E.J. Dent & Co, the clock tower had four faces, each 23 feet across, and a bell weighing in at more than 13 tons. So heavy was the clock’s bell that it was transported to Westminster by a team of sixteen horses, and was found not to withstand the heavier weight of the striker. The massive bell cracked within two months of use, and earned a new and lighter hammer that could be applied to all the bell’s surfaces.
Despite its long-standing and infamous crack, Big Ben functions to this day — a beloved feat, where science and design wed — clock and bell seen as one by many.
The following articles are selected from Proquest Historical Newspapers, which informs and inspires classroom teaching and learning.
- The Great Clock Bells in the World. (1859, Sep 12). The Observer (1791- 1900)
- ‘Signature of Empire’. (1949, Apr 10). Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File)
- Yarham, E.R. (1954, Dec 22). Big Ben to Go ‘On Strike: Amazingly Accurate’. The Christian Science Monitor (1908-Current File)
- London’s Big Ben Notes Century of Time-Telling. (1959, May 10). The Hartford Courant (1923-1991)
- Big Ben Is a Century Old. (1959, May 13). The Christian Science Monitor (1908-Current File)
- Waggoner, W.H. (1959, May 31). Big Ben Rings in 100th Year Today. Britain to Mark Centenary of Clock That Has Become Voice of the Nation. New York Times (1923-Current File)
- Britain Rings Gong in Honor of Beloved Big Ben. (1959, Jun 01). Daily Boston Globe (1928-1960)
- Waggoner, W.H. (1959, Jun 07). A Century of Big Ben: London’s Noted Clock Has Heartened Britons through War and Peace. New York Times (1923-Current File)
- Nelson, R. (1971, May 13). World’s Big, Big ‘Bong’ Entrusted to New Hands. The Christian Science Monitor (1908-Current File)
- Knewstub, N. (1977, May 05). Chimes Clock in Again at Big Ben. The Guardian (1959-2003)
Tip:
Listen to Big Ben striking 12!
Read more about the history of Big Ben from the U.K. Living Heritage, Houses of Parliament.
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