Planet

BIG BEN

Big Ben is one of London’s best-known landmarks. It is very impressionable and attractive, especially when all four dials are illuminated. You even know when parliament is in session, because a light shines above the clock face. The tower is designed in the Gothic style, is 96.3 meters high and the dials are at height of 55 metres. The clock and dials were designed by Augustus Pugin. The clock mechanism itself was completed by 1854, but the tower was not fully constructed until four years later in 1858 the tower in all its beauty has been presented to the inhabitants of Foggy London. Big Ben, however, has started to operate since September, 7th, 1859.
The BBC first broadcast the chimes on the 31st December 1923 - there is a microphone in the turret connected to Broadcasting House.
The major part of the tower is the Great Bell (the Big Bell) who has no official name. But there are a set of versions concerning the name origin. According to one of them, the bell was named after the first commissioner of works, Sir Benjamin Hall.
Another theory is that the bell may have been named after heavyweight boxer Benjamin Caunt who was popular at the time. There's also a story that the bell was to be called "Victoria" in honour of Queen Victoria, but the ceremonial speeches went on so long that some joker shouted out "Oh just call it Big Ben and have done with it!" and the name stuck.
Big Ben is an excellent timekeeper, which has rarely stopped.
During the second world war in 1941, an incendiary bomb destroyed many places of interest, but the clock tower remained intact and Big Ben continued to keep time, its unique sound was broadcast to the despaired people inspiring belief and hope.