Big Ben

Known as the London's best and most popular landmark, Big Ben can give us most spectacular view especially at night, when the clock faces are illuminated. In addition, you see a light shining above the clock face? BOOM! You know that parliment is in session! That's just so practical!
The four dials of the clock are 23 feet square, the minute hand is 14 feet long and the figures are 2 feet high. Minutely regulated with a stack of coins placed on the huge pendulum, Big Ben is an excellent timekeeper, which has rarely stopped. Impossible, but true.
The name Big Ben actually refers not to the clock-tower itself, but to the thirteen ton bell hung within. It was named after the first commissioner of works, Sir Benjamin Hall.
Originally, this bell came from the old Palace of Westminster, and it was given to the Dean of St. Paul's by William III. However, before returning to Westminster to hang in its present home, it was refashioned in White chapel in 1858. Don’t you worry, it's not the end of the history! There is much more..
And so, during the second world war in 1941, an incendiary bomb destroyed the Commons chamber of the Houses of Parliament, but the clock tower remained intact and Big Ben continued to keep time and strike away the hours. Its unique sound was broadcast to the nation and around the world, as a welcome reassurance of hope to all who could heard it.
There are even cells within the clock tower where Members of Parliament can be imprisoned for a breach of parliamentary privilege, though this is rare-the last recorded case was noted in 1880.
The tower is not open to general public, but those with a special interest may try arranging a visit to the top of the Clock Tower. And for sure, it'd be unforgetful.