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N0KFQ > TODAY 31.05.16 16:23l 56 Lines 2555 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 95254_N0KFQ
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Subj: Today in History - May 31
Path: IW8PGT<IZ3LSV<F1OYP<ON0AR<GB7CIP<N0KFQ
Sent: 160531/1406Z 95254@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.4.65
1859
Big Ben goes into operation in London
The famous tower clock known as Big Ben, located at the top of
the 320-foot-high St. Stephen's Tower, rings out over the Houses
of Parliament in Westminster, London, for the first time on this
day in 1859.
After a fire destroyed much of the Palace of Westminster-the
headquarters of the British Parliament-in October 1834, a
standout feature of the design for the new palace was a large
clock atop a tower. The royal astronomer, Sir George Airy, wanted
the clock to have pinpoint accuracy, including twice-a-day checks
with the Royal Greenwich Observatory. While many clockmakers
dismissed this goal as impossible, Airy counted on the help of
Edmund Beckett Denison, a formidable barrister known for his
expertise in horology, or the science of measuring time.
Denison's design, built by the company E.J. Dent& Co., was
completed in 1854; five years later, St. Stephen's Tower itself
was finished. Weighing in at more than 13 tons, its massive bell
was dragged to the tower through the streets of London by a team
of 16 horses, to the cheers of onlookers. Once it was installed,
Big Ben struck its first chimes on May 31, 1859. Just two months
later, however, the heavy striker designed by Denison cracked the
bell. Three more years passed before a lighter hammer was added
and the clock went into service again. The bell was rotated so
that the hammer would strike another surface, but the crack was
never repaired.
The name "Big Ben" originally just applied to the bell but later
came to refer to the clock itself. Two main stories exist about
how Big Ben got its name. Many claim it was named after the
famously long-winded Sir Benjamin Hall, the London commissioner
of works at the time it was built. Another famous story argues
that the bell was named for the popular heavyweight boxer
Benjamin Caunt, because it was the largest of its kind.
Even after an incendiary bomb destroyed the chamber of the House
of Commons during the Second World War, St. Stephen's Tower
survived, and Big Ben continued to function. Its famously
accurate timekeeping is regulated by a stack of coins placed on
the clock's huge pendulum, ensuring a steady movement of the
clock hands at all times. At night, all four of the clock's
faces, each one 23 feet across, are illuminated. A light above
Big Ben is also lit to let the public know when Parliament is in
session.
73 - K.O., n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-Mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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