Big Ben is one of the most famous buildings in London. When you tell people you have been in London one of the first remarks you get is: 'Oh, did you see Big Ben?'.
A lot of people think that the clock tower is Big Ben, however, it is not the tower but the bell in the clock that is called Big Ben. The clock tower itself is called the Great Clock of Westminster.
In
1844 Parliament decided that the new buildings of the Houses of Parliament
should include a clock tower. The specifications for the clock were extremely
high for that time. The first strike of the bell should be correct to one second
to the hour and it took until 1851 to develop a mechanism that was that
accurate.
The bell was made according to certain requirements regarding weight, shape and metal. However, it cracked and was beyond repair. Because of this, a new bell had to be made. This time the Whitechapel Bell Foundry undertook the castings.
A couple of months after the clock went into service the bell cracked again. This apparently had to do with the hammer and according to experts, was to heavy. Big Ben was out of order for 3 years, in which the hammer was replaced with a lighter one and the bell was turned a bit.
An interesting point of fact, is that Parliament discussed an appropriate name for the clock tower for quite a while. Sir Benjamin Hall, a large and portely man who was also known as Big Ben, gave a long speech about the clock. At the end of his speech somebody in Parliament said: 'Why not call him Big Ben and be done with it?'.
And another point of fact is, when I come over to London by Eurostar, Big Ben is a landmark for me which tells me that I am only 5 minutes away from my partner. :+)