Here's something that'll make you feel smug at dinner parties: Big Ben is technically the name of the main bell inside the tower, not the tower itself.
The tower was simply called "Clock Tower" for over 150 years until 2012, when it was renamed Elizabeth Tower for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. But everyone still calls the whole thing Big Ben, including most British people, so you're in good company being wrong.
The bell weighs 13.5 tons and has been bonging away since 1859. It cracked in 1859, just two months after installation, and they had to rotate it so the hammer strikes a different spot. That crack gives Big Ben its distinctive tone.
The clock faces are 23 feet in diameter, and the minute hands are 14 feet long. They're made of copper sheet, and during World War II, the clock faces were blacked out to prevent German bombers from using them as a landmark. The bells kept ringing though - take that, Nazis.
There's no elevator. To reach the top, you have to climb 334 steps. And no
, members of the public aren't allowed to tour it if they're not UK residents. Very exclusive crack-bell-listening opportunities.
