Big Ben Facts

Big Ben Facts

• Each dial is seven metres in diameter
• The minute hands are 4.2 metres long and weigh about 100kg (including counterweights)
• The numbers are approximately 60cm long
• There are 312 pieces of glass in each clock dial
• A special light above the clock faces is illuminated when parliament is in session
• Big Ben's timekeeping is strictly regulated by a stack of coins placed on the huge pendulum. 
• Big Ben has rarely stopped. Even after a bomb destroyed the Commons chamber during the Second World War, the clock tower survived and Big Ben continued to strike the hours.
• The chimes of Big Ben were first broadcast by the BBC on 31 December 1923, a tradition that continues to this day.
• In June 2012 the House of Commons announced that the clock tower was to be renamed the Elizabeth Tower in honour of Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee.