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Clock Tower, Palace Of Westminster
Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster, and, by extension, for the clock tower itself, which stands at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, England. Originally named the Clock Tower, it was renamed Elizabeth Tower in 2012 to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. The clock is a striking clock with five bells. It was designed by Sir Charles Barry and Augustus Pugin in the Perpendicular Gothic and Gothic Revival styles and was completed in 1859. It is elaborately decorated with stone carvings and features symbols related to the four countries of the United Kingdom and the Tudor dynasty. A Latin inscription celebrates Queen Victoria, under whose reign the palace was built. It stands tall, and the climb from ground level to the belfry is 334 steps. Its base is square, measuring on each side. The dials of the clock are in diameter. The clock uses its original mechanism and was the largest and most accurate four ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clock Tower
Clock towers are a specific type of structure that house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another building. Some other buildings also have clock faces on their exterior but these structures serve other main functions. Clock towers are a common sight in many parts of the world with some being iconic buildings. One example is the Elizabeth Tower in London (usually called " Big Ben", although strictly this name belongs only to the bell inside the tower). Definition There are many structures that may have clocks or clock faces attached to them and some structures have had clocks added to an existing structure. According to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat a structure is defined as a building if at least fifty percent of its height is made up of floor plates containing habitable floor area. Structures that do not meet this criter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days, which was List of monarchs in Britain by length of reign, longer than those of any of her predecessors, constituted the Victorian era. It was a period of industrial, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom, and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. In 1876, the British parliament voted to grant her the additional title of Empress of India. Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (the fourth son of King George III), and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. After the deaths of her father and grandfather in 1820, she was Kensington System, raised under close supervision by her mother and her Comptrol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International security, security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It has 194 Member states of UNESCO, member states and 12 associate members, as well as partners in the Non-governmental organization, non-governmental, Intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental and private sector. Headquartered in Paris, France, UNESCO has 53 regional field offices and 199 National Commissions for UNESCO, national commissions. UNESCO was founded in 1945 as the successor to the League of Nations' International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation.English summary). UNESCO's founding mission, which was shaped by the events of World War II, is to advance peace, sustainable development and human rights by facilitating collaboratio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parliamentary Democracy
A parliamentary system, or parliamentary democracy, is a form of government where the head of government (chief executive) derives their democratic legitimacy from their ability to command the support ("confidence") of a majority of the legislature, to which they are held accountable. This head of government is usually, but not always, distinct from a ceremonial head of state. This is in contrast to a presidential system, which features a president who is not fully accountable to the legislature, and cannot be replaced by a simple majority vote. Countries with parliamentary systems may be constitutional monarchies, where a monarch is the head of state while the head of government is almost always a member of parliament, or parliamentary republics, where a mostly ceremonial president is the head of state while the head of government is from the legislature. In a few countries, the head of government is also head of state but is elected by the legislature. In bicameral parliam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Culture Of The United Kingdom
The culture of the United Kingdom is influenced by its History of the United Kingdom, combined nations' history, its interaction with the cultures of Europe, the individual diverse cultures of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and the impact of the British Empire. The culture of the United Kingdom may also colloquially be referred to as British culture. Although British culture is a distinct entity, the individual Culture of England, cultures of England, Culture of Scotland, Scotland, Culture of Wales, Wales and Culture of Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland are diverse. There have been varying degrees of overlap and distinctiveness between these four cultures.British literature is particularly esteemed. The Novel, modern novel was developed in Britain, and playwrights, poets, and authors are among its most prominent cultural figures. Britain has also made notable contributions to Theatre of the United Kingdom, theatre, Music of the United Kingdom, music, British cine ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quarter Bells
A clock chime is a melody or a set of melodies played at intervals upon a set of bells to mark the passage of time. It is also the name of the installed set of bells, when they are not part of a larger bell instrument such as a carillon. Bells that play clock chimes are commonly placed in bell towers and elaborate floor clocks, but may be found any place where a large clock is installed. The chime is distinct from the striking of the hour on a single bell, although a clock that plays a chime normally plays the associated hour strike as well, while the bell stuck on the hour may or may not have a part in the melodies. A variety of chime melodies exist, many associated with a particular location or bell tower that originated or popularized them. History The practice of using bells to mark time dates at least to the time of the early Christian church, which used bells to mark the "canonical hours". An 8th-century Archbishop of York gave his priests instructions to sound church bel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Benjamin Hall, 1st Baron Llanover
Benjamin Hall, Baron Llanover (8 November 1802 – 27 April 1867) was a Whigs (British political party), Whig / Liberal Party UK, Liberal politician and social, church, health and local government reformer who served in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons from 1831 until his elevation to the peerage in 1859. As President of the Board of Health from 1854-1855 he was a minister in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, Cabinet and thereafter occupied the non-Cabinet position of First Commissioner of Public Works until 1858. In 1859 he was made a Peer as Lord Llanover of Llanover and Abercarn and served in the House of Lords until his death in 1867. He was a Minister (government), Minister under Lords George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, Aberdeen and Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, Palmerston and was a member of the Privy Council (United Kingdom), Privy Council. He was a prominent reformer whose primary focus in parliamentary debates was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pendulum
A pendulum is a device made of a weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely. When a pendulum is displaced sideways from its resting, equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force due to gravity that will accelerate it back toward the equilibrium position. When released, the restoring force acting on the pendulum's mass causes it to oscillate about the equilibrium position, swinging back and forth. The time for one complete cycle, a left swing and a right swing, is called the period. The period depends on the length of the pendulum and also to a slight degree on the amplitude, the width of the pendulum's swing. Pendulums were widely used in early mechanical clocks for timekeeping. The regular motion of pendulums was used for timekeeping and was the world's most accurate timekeeping technology until the 1930s. The pendulum clock invented by Christiaan Huygens in 1656 became the world's standard timekeeper, used in homes and offices for 270 years, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Penny (British Pre-decimal Coin)
The United Kingdom, British £sd, pre-decimal penny was a denomination of Coins of the United Kingdom, sterling coinage worth of one Pound sterling, pound or of one Shilling (British coin), shilling. Its symbol was ''d'', from the Roman denarius. It was a continuation of the earlier Penny (English coin), English penny, and in Scotland it had the same monetary value as one Acts of Union 1707, pre-1707 Scottish shilling, thus the English penny was called in Scottish Gaelic. The penny was originally minted in silver, but from the late 18th century it was minted in copper, and then after 1860 in bronze. The plural of "penny" is "pence" (often added as an unstressed suffix) when referring to an amount of money, and "pennies" when referring to a number of coins. Thus 8''d'' is eightpence or eight pence, but "eight pennies" means specifically eight individual penny coins. Before Decimal Day in 1971, sterling used the Carolingian monetary system (£sd), under which the largest unit w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward John Dent
Edward Dent (1790–1853) was a famous English watchmaker noted for his highly accurate clocks and marine chronometers. He founded the Dent company. Early years Edward John Dent, son of John and Elizabeth Dent, was born in London on 19 August 1790. He was baptised on 18 October 1790, at St. Clement Danes Church in the Strand. Edward had a younger brother, William (born 11 February 1792). The boys' mother, Elizabeth, died while they were still young – she was buried on 16 May 1793. Interest in watchmaking At the age of 14, Dent became apprenticed to his grandfather, John Wright Dent, a tallow chandler. Under the terms of the indenture – dated 20 August 1804 – John Wright Dent was expected to find suitable lodgings for his apprentice. Fortunately, Edward John Dent's cousin, Richard Rippon, was willing to have him. Rippon was an expert watchmaker and Dent became fascinated by watchmaking and less interested in the business of making and selling candles. Indeed, Dent b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Astronomer Royal
Astronomer Royal is a senior post in the Royal Households of the United Kingdom. There are two officers, the senior being the astronomer royal dating from 22 June 1675; the junior is the astronomer royal for Scotland dating from 1834. The Astronomer Royal works to make observations to improve navigation, cartography, instrument design, and applications of geomagnetism. The position was created with the overall goal of discovering a way to determine longitude at sea when out of sight of land. History The post was created by Charles II in 1675, at the same time as he founded the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. He appointed John Flamsteed, instructing him "." The first six Astronomer Royals dedicated themselves primarily to this task and focused on astronomical observations that would benefit navigation. The astronomer royal was director of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich from the establishment of the post in 1675 until 1972. The astronomer royal became an honorary title in 197 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Biddell Airy
Sir George Biddell Airy (; 27 July 18012 January 1892) was an English mathematician and astronomer, as well as the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics from 1826 to 1828 and the seventh Astronomer Royal from 1835 to 1881. His many achievements include work on planetary orbits, measuring the mean density of the Earth, a method of solution of two-dimensional problems in solid mechanics and, in his role as Astronomer Royal, establishing Greenwich as the location of the prime meridian. Biography Airy was born at Alnwick in Northumberland, one of a long line of Airys who traced their descent back to a family of the same name residing at Kentmere, in Westmorland, in the 14th century. The branch to which he belonged, having suffered in the English Civil War, moved to Lincolnshire and became farmers. Airy was educated first at elementary schools in Hereford, and afterwards at Colchester Royal Grammar School. An introverted child, Airy gained popularity with his schoolmates through his grea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
