Timeline

1859

Discover what happened in this year with HISTORY’s summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.

May

31

European History

Big Ben starts ticking over London for the first time

The famous tower clock known as Big Ben, located at the top of the 320-foot-high Elizabeth Tower, begins ticking over the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, London, for the first time on May 31, 1859. The great bell's strikes are first heard a few weeks later, on July 11.

In this This Day in History video, take a look at May 31, the day in 1859 when the Big Ben clock tower was set up in St. Stephen’s tower above the British House of Commons, and also the day in 1961 when South Africa became an independent republic and withdrew from the Commonwealth of Nations. In 2005 on this day, Mark Felt made himself known as the secret deep throat source in Watergate.

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