farmdoc's blog post number 451

On 16 October 1834 fire destroyed the Palace of Westminster, long the seat of the British parliament. In 1844 the parliament decided that the new Houses of Parliament buildings, by then under construction, should incorporate a clock tower. The Astronomer Royal specified ‘the first stroke of the hour bell should register the time correct to within one second per day’. On 10 April 1858 the hour bell of the Great Clock of Westminster – 9'0" diameter, 7'6" high and weighing 13½ tons (3,760 kg) – was cast in Whitechapel. The parliament had a special sitting to decide on a suitable name for the great hour bell. Chief Commissioner of Works, Sir Benjamin Hall, a large and ponderous man known affectionately in the House as ‘Big Ben’, rose and gave an impressively long speech on the subject, at the end of which a wag shouted: ‘Why not call him Big Ben and have done with it?’ The house erupted in laughter; Big Ben had been named. But it may have been named after English heavyweight boxing champion Benjamin Caunt who was the heaviest in his class. Since then the name Big Ben has also been used to describe the whole clock, and even the clock tower. These links [1, 2, 3] give more information; here’s a real-time webcam view of the tower and clock; and click a ringtone here to hear Big Ben at work. Big Ben pealed across London for the first time on 11 July 1859 – 150 years ago last Saturday. Happy sesquicentenary birthday, BB.