Big ben. 5V Mikaelyan Artyom.

Big Ben. Big Ben (born Big Ben) - bell in the clock tower clock in London. Broadly called Big Ben are also called clock and tower entirely. There are two theories about the origin of the name. The first is that Big Ben (Big Ben) was named after Sir Benjamin Hall, who supervised the casting of the bell. According to another, the most difficult at the time the bell - 13.7 tons - received its name in honor of Benjamin Count, very popular at the time the boxer in the heavyweight division. The tower was built by English architect Augustus design Pyudzhina in 1858, the clock tower is set in motion 31 May 1859. The official name - "Clock Tower of Westminster Palace" (sometimes erroneously referred to as the "Tower of St. Stephen“.

The tower is 96.3 meters (with a spike), the clock starts at a height of 55 m above the ground. When the diameter of the dial to 7 meters and a length of the arrows in the 2.7 and 4.2 meters, hours were long considered the greatest in the world. Accuracy of the five-ton clock mechanism is achieved by using a coin weighing 1.5 grams, when the clock starts to lag, the pendulum putting old English penny accelerates its motion for 2.5 seconds per day. At present tower - one of the most recognizable symbols of the UK, often used in advertising, movies, etc. Inscription «Domine Salvam fac Reginam nostram Victoriam primam» and «Laus Deo». At the base of each of the four clock faces is the Latin inscription «Domine Salvam fac Reginam nostram Victoriam primam» («God save our Queen Victoria I»). On the perimeter of the tower, on the right and left of the clock, there is another phrase in Latin - «Laus Deo» («Glory to God" or "Praise the Lord") in 1504, Big Ben was used as a prison for prisoners.

The Clock. The clock was the largest in the world and is still the largest in Great-Britain. The clock faces have a diameter of almost 25ft (7.5m). The hour hand is 9ft or 2.7m long and the minute hand measures 14ft (4.25m) long. The clock is known for its reliability, it has rarely failed during its long life span. Even after the nearby House of Commons was destroyed by bombing during World War II, the clock kept on chiming. The clock's mechanism, designed by Edmund Beckett Denison, has a remarkable accuracy. The clock's rate is adjusted by simply adding small pennies on the shoulder of the pendulum.

There were two bells cast as the clock tower's hour bell There were two bells cast as the clock tower's hour bell. A first, 16 ton weighing bell was cast by John Warner and Sons in 1856. Since the Clock Tower was not yet completed, the bell was hung temporarily in the Palace Yard. The bell soon cracked so it was recast in 1858 in the Whitechapel Bell Foundry as a 13.5 ton bell. Unfortunately soon after this bell was placed in the belfry in July 1859, it cracked as well. This time, instead of yet again recasting the bell, the crack was repaired and a lighter hammer was used to prevent any more cracks. The hour bell was probably named after Benjamin Hall, Clock facethe First Commissioner of Works. Some sources however claim the bell was named after Benjamin Caunt, a British heavyweight boxing champion. 

Thank you for your attention.