Well, I suppose we have the Great Fire of London to thank for Big Ben. (Nope, not the one in 1666!) You see, after a massive fire engulfed the Palace of Westminster in 1834, the British Parliament had a big problem—they needed a new home. So, in 1835, a national competition was launched to find a new design. After much deliberation, a design by Charles Barry was chosen. His plans included a magnificent Gothic-style clock tower.
After a few choruses of ‘ayes’ and ‘hear, hear’s,’ much like they do in PMQs, Parliament had agreed: ‘The new clock should be extremely accurate and the chiming bell should be heard all across London.’
That was that then. The (homeless) House had spoken.
After a good few years of designing and consultations with clockmakers and horologists, the first bell was ready in 1856. Sadly, it cracked soon after casting. A second bell, weighing a whopping 13.5 tons, was cast and named Big Ben. Unfortunately, it also cracked shortly after installation. However, after a few ‘flaming ‘ells’ ‘effing, ‘jeffing’ and other colourful British exclamations. Big Ben was soon patched up. And would you believe… the iconic bell is still chiming away.
In fact, the bell first chimed 165 years ago, on July 11, 1859. Wait, that’s today. Happy birthday, Big Ben!
