View of Big Ben and the Palace of Westminster through a pedestrian tunnel, London, England
© Stefan Kunert/Westend61/Offset
View of Big Ben and the Palace of Westminster through a pedestrian tunnel, London, England
‘Big Ben’ is the name commonly used to describe the tower, the clock, and the bell of this London landmark. But technically, Big Ben refers only to the tower’s Great Bell, which Londoners first heard chime on this day in 1859. Ordinarily, four quarter bells chime at 15, 30, and 45 minutes past the hour and again just before Big Ben tolls on the hour. However, Big Ben is silent for today’s anniversary. It stopped tolling in 2017 to undergo significant renovations that are expected to last through 2021. Eager tourists can still visit the tower, which was renamed Elizabeth Tower in 2012 for Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee.
Related Images
For Waitangi Day, the Pancake Rocks on New Zealand’s South Island
Landmark Center clock tower and Winter Carnival Ice Palace, St. Paul, Minnesota
Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington, DC
Meditation domes at the Beatles Ashram in Rishikesh, India
A carving of artist W.O.J. Nieuwenkamp in the Pura Meduwe Karang temple in Bali, Indonesia
At Casa Batlló for Sant Jordi’s Day in Barcelona, Spain
At the Arch of Septimius Severus in the Roman Forum for the ides of March
'El Problema del Caballo' by Claudia Fontes in Venice, Italy
Bing Today Images
Port de Saint-Goustan, Auray, Brittany, France
Jul 11, 2026
Tokyo at sunrise
Jul 11, 2025
Gangi, Sicily, Italy
Jul 11, 2024
Hong Kong SAR
Jul 11, 2023
Barcelona, Spain
Jul 11, 2022
Spiral aloe
Jul 11, 2021
Artificial light from Earth
Jul 11, 2019
