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1959 - This Year Is The Hundredth Birthday of Big Ben This year is the hundredth birthday of Big Ben. The first day of its service as as timekeeper is reckoned as May 31, ad as a striking clock July 11, in 1859. The name is traditionally derived from the nickname od Sir Benjamin Hall, a stout party who had been First Commissioner of Works in 1855-58. It is important to remember that Big Ben is strictly the hour bell; although the name has been extended in ordinary speech to include the chimes, the dials, and even the clock tower. The original Big Ben was cast on Aug.6, 1856 at Norton-on-Tees and shipped to London where it was pulled over to Westminster Bridge in a truck drawn by 16 white horses and hung on gallows in the New Palace Yard for testing. A crack was discovered and the bell had to be recast. A few months later after starting work in the in tower, Big Ben the second also cracked, and up to 1862 it remained silent until adjusted on the advice of the Astronomer Royal. This crack is still apparent. Photo Shows:- 66-year-old Mr. Arthur Lovering, a guide, stands beside the inside of the West-face side of the dials. Centres of the dials are 180 feet up, and are of cast iron, glazed. Each face is 23-feet in diameter, and the figures are 2-feet long. The dials are lit by cold cathode tubes, 14 to each face

Restrictions Only for United Kingdom

1855-58 1856 66-year-old Adjusted Advice Although Apparent Astronomer Cathode Centres Chimes Commissioner Crack Cracked Derived Dials Diameter Discovered Extended Gallows Glazed Hundredth Hung Include Lovering Nickname Norton-on-tees Ordinary Pulled Recast Reckoned Remained Remember Shipped Starting Stout Strictly Striking Timekeeper Traditionally Tubes

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