The big clock on the tower of the Palace of Westminster in London is often called Big Ben. But Big Ben is really the bell of the clock. It is the biggest clock bell in Britain. It weighs 13.5 tons. The clock tower is 318 feet high. You have to go up 374 steps to reach the top. So the clock looks small from the pavement below the tower. But its face is 23 feet wide. It would only just fit into some classrooms. The minute-hand is 14 feet long. Its weight is equal to that of two bags of coal. The hour-hand is 9 feet long. The clock bell is called Big Ben after Sir Benjamin Hall. He had the job to see that the bell was put up. Sir Benjamin was a big man. One day he said in Parliament, "Shall we call the bell St. Stephen's?" St. Stephen's is the name of the tower. But someone said for a joke, "Why not call it Big Ben?" Now the bell is known all over the world by that name.
The Russian army in that time managed to prepare for new battles. To defend the homeland all the people stood up. On the lands occupied by Napoleon broke out guerrilla war. Nine out of ten were killed invaders on Russian soil. Napoleon himself, leaving dies in the snows of Russian army left in disgrace to France. In 1814, the Russian army, together with its allies went to Paris. Addressing the soldiers, the Emperor Alexander said: "You have saved more than one Russian, and you have saved Europe."
The clock tower is 318 feet high. You have to go up 374 steps to reach the top. So the clock looks small from the pavement below the tower.
But its face is 23 feet wide. It would only just fit into some classrooms.
The minute-hand is 14 feet long. Its weight is equal to that of two bags of coal. The hour-hand is 9 feet long.
The clock bell is called Big Ben after Sir Benjamin Hall. He had the job to see that the bell was put up.
Sir Benjamin was a big man. One day he said in Parliament, "Shall we call the bell St. Stephen's?" St. Stephen's is the name of the tower.
But someone said for a joke, "Why not call it Big Ben?" Now the bell is known all over the world by that name.