| Big Ben is a bell tower in London, part of an architectural complex of the Westminster palace. The official name is the “Clock tower of Westminster Palace” and it is also called “Saint Stephen’s Tower”. Actually "Big Ben" is the largest bell in the mechanism of the clock.
The Tower was erected in the year 1858 and tower clock was started on September 7, 1859. The height of the tower is 61m (not taking the spire into consideration); the clock is positioned at 55m above the ground. When the diameter of the dial is 7m and the length of hands 2.7 and 4.2 m, the clock was considered as the biggest in the world for a long time. The Latin inscription “Domine salvam fac Reginam nostram Victoriam Primam” (“God Save the Queen Victoria I”) is positioned at the base of each of the four dials.
Big Ben became one of the most popular symbols of Great Britain and is often used in advertisements and films etc.
The ringing of the clock on the tower of the UK Parliament is heard all over the world. Microphones of the radio service BBC transmit the ringing of the clock every hour.
Permission to enter Big Ben is prohibited for tourists as only one narrow spiral staircase leads to top of the 96m tower. 334 steps lead to a small open area, in the center of which is located the legendary bell. Big Ben is only a single bell. Its height is more than 2m and the diameter equal roughly 3m.
Big Ben's name is surrounded with interesting histories. The official version is: The bell was named in the honor of the chief of civil works Sir Benjamin Caunt. For impressive sizes, the work superintendent was given the nickname Big Ben. The other version: the bell got this name from the strongman and boxer during the rein of Queen Victoria.
Big Ben and other surrounding small bells ring out chimes of the following words: "Throughout this hour, let the Lord protects me and will not allow anybody to stumble”. After the ringing of the chimes, the first shot of the hammer on Big Ben precisely coincides with the first second of the start of an hour.
Every 2 days the mechanism undergoes thorough inspection and lubrication and the day temperature and pressure are also taken into account. But, like any other clock mechanism, the clock on the tower of British Parliament is behind or fast sometimes. It is necessary to state that the error is not at all significant - just 1.5 - 2 seconds. The old British penny is just what is required to correct the position. Nobody precisely knows who got the idea to use the coin for the first time, but the idea worked. The old English penny, placed on the pendulum with a 4m length, accelerates its motion by 2.5 seconds per day. By placing or removing the penny, the inspector attains the accuracy. The mechanism, despite it's almost 1.5 century history and weighing 5 tons works excellently.
Big Ben's dials look at all 4 sides of the world. They are made from Birmingham opal, the hour hands are cast from cast-iron and the minute hands are made from copper sheet. It is taken into consideration that the minute hands traverse the distance of 190km in a year.
Big Ben is a symbol of its period, the period of the greatest dawn of the country. And the inscription in Latin: "Oh God, protect our Queen Victoria' is a tribute of personal respect to towards the monarch, from which the concept such as the “British Empire” evolved.
After the bomb hit Saint Stephens tower during World War II the clock started working incorrectly.
This clock has received improbable popularity both in England as well as beyond its boundaries. Many “Small Bens” have cropped up in London, which are reduced replicas of Saint Stephens tower with clocks at the top. Such towers - something between an architectural building and salons with floor clocks began to erect at almost all crossroads.
The most popular "Small Ben" stands at Victoria railway station but actually, it is possible to find a “small Ben” in almost every area of London.
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This month the famous British Big Ben celebrates 150th anniversary. Big Ben is actually the name of the large 13 ton bell inside the world's largest four-faced clock, but most people use this name for the whole clock tower. The bell was cast in Whitechapel foundry in April 1858, and ever since produced its unique chimes, called the "bongs". Most importantly Big Ben tower remains one of the national symbols of England.
