Happy Birthday Big Ben

by Amy Judd | April 9, 2008 at 08:37 pm

2892 views | 1 Recommendation | 20 comments

The most famous clock in the world turns 150 tomorrow, well, the bell does anyway. Big Ben in London, England, has a great bell in it's tower, which is what the name 'Big Ben' actually refers to.
The bell was cast on 10 April 1856 in Stockton-on-Tees by a company called Warner's of Cripplegate.
Big Ben is the world's largest four-faced, chiming clock and is attached to the Houses of Parliament in London.
The clock offically became operational on 7 September 1859.
Below are some interesting facts about the working of the clock over the years.

Big Ben Specials

100/1 Big Ben To Fail To Chime due to Bird interference (In 1949 a flock of starlings managed to stop it briefly by perching on one of the minute hands).

150/1 Big Ben Fails to chime due to being frozen / Snow Build up in 2008 (A build-up of snow on the hands caused it to ring in the New Year ten minutes late in 1962).

150/1 Big Ben to stop due to a heat wave in 2008 (In May 2005 it ground to a halt for more than an hour and a half, probably because of hot weather).

500/1 Big Ben To Stop On Birthday.

1000/1 One Of The Hands To Fall Off in 2008.

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skambalu

at 23:44 on April 9th, 2008

Here's a close up of the clock face in front of Big Ben, the bell that provides the famous strikes.

skambalu has contributed a photo to this story.

atigra

at 00:08 on April 10th, 2008

The Big Ben it's a beautifull thing to see in London. It's very nice also by night.

atigra has contributed a photo to this story.

Sandro Maggi architetto

at 00:24 on April 10th, 2008

Happy Birthday to you.......

Sandro Maggi architetto has contributed a photo to this story.

robert mclean images

at 01:35 on April 10th, 2008

Happy Birthday Ben - long may you continue to play your tune!

JamesKelly26

at 02:00 on April 10th, 2008

Here's my picture from ground level with London's beautiful blue sky in the background.

JamesKelly26 has contributed a photo to this story.

peter marshall

at 03:06 on April 10th, 2008

This was taken yesterday on a RIB trip with Panasonic where I was trying out the Panasonic DMCFX-500 - a great little compact that took this picture. More at http://mylondondiary.co.uk - My London Diary.

peter marshall has contributed a photo to this story.

tiZka33

at 03:23 on April 10th, 2008

this is one of my favorites pictures, i loved the big ben and the undeground logo, so i tried to put them together

tiZka33 has contributed a photo to this story.

Katurah_McNichols

at 03:47 on April 10th, 2008

It wasn't my first time seeing it - but it never fails to impress!

Katurah_McNichols has contributed a photo to this story.

Allen Watkin

at 03:55 on April 10th, 2008

Taken on April 9th...I was meeting my daughter in Oxford Street,but was a bit early,so I decided to get off the tube at Westminster and take a few photos,seeing as it was a nice sunny day!

Allen Watkin has contributed a photo to this story.

boris.lemus

at 04:08 on April 10th, 2008

Magnificent!

boris.lemus has contributed a photo to this story.

burgesg

at 05:31 on April 10th, 2008

I made the film I added over the last month or so and it has some great footage of Big Ben time-lapsed.

burgesg

at 05:33 on April 10th, 2008

I made the film I added over the last month or so and it has some great footage of Big Ben time-lapsed.

cL4y

at 05:50 on April 10th, 2008

The view of the big ben when you just came out from the underground station

cL4y has contributed a photo to this story.

Pradella

at 06:02 on April 10th, 2008

Pradella has contributed a photo to this story.

cgcg

at 06:46 on April 10th, 2008

from Victoria Monument in front of Buckingham Palace.

cgcg has contributed a photo to this story.

fd_hugon

at 11:24 on April 10th, 2008

What an awesome architectural monument. It was amazing to see in person.

fd_hugon has contributed a photo to this story.

cancela

at 06:17 on April 11th, 2008

I was doing tourist. I took the photo a cloudy and rainy day, under and archway, impress buy its beauty.
I am glad you use it.

cancela has contributed a photo to this story.

Lauren Miller

at 10:15 on April 11th, 2008

This photo was taken April 6, 2008 in front of Parliament.

Lauren Miller has contributed a photo to this story.

tetra352002

at 00:01 on May 3rd, 2008

My first visit to London, and took this shot from a car, as we speed through the road toward, westminster bridge. It's been so foggy and rainy the whole time I was there, it was very hard to take a good photo.

tetra352002 has contributed a photo to this story.

Aga (not verified)

at 09:50 on May 31st, 2009

Happy Birthday, Ben!

Have a cake :)

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