Big Ben Clock Tower in London
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The Clock Tower or Big Ben
Considered as one of the
most popular landmark in the United Kingdom,
The Big Ben is the largest
four-faced chiming clock and
the third largest free-standing clock tower
in the world (after Old City Hall
in Toronto, Canada and
Joseph Chamberlain Clock Tower in
Birmingham, UK). The 96.3-meter high clock
tower, located at the north-eastern end of
the Palace of Westminster in London was a
design
whiz by Charles Barry and
Gothic-deisgner Augustus Pugin. Big Ben's
structure is composed of brickwork and sand
colored Anston limestone cladding. It was
completed in 1859 and will celebrate
its 150th anniversary in
2009.
One famous idiomatic expression, "putting a
penny on," which means to slow down, traces
its history to the method of fine-tuning the
clock's pendulum using a small stack of
penny coins to adjust the time of the clock.
In addition, the name Big Ben was only
applied to the Great Bell before it became a
collective term to refer the clock, tower
and bell.
Certainly, Big Ben has become an important
iconic symbol not only to London but the
entire UK. Radio and TV stations also tune
in to the chimes to signal the start of a
New Year and to mark the 11th hour of the
11th day of the 11 month on Remembrance Day
and it has been featured in numerous films.
Another famous building that
used in many movies is the
Sphinx at Luxor in
Las Vegas.
