📅 Big Ben's Great Clock starts (1859)
Where: Big Ben, London
📅 On This Day: May 31
May 31, 1859: Big Ben's Great Clock starts. On this day in 1859, the Great Clock in the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament in London started ticking. People often call the tower and its great bell 'Big Ben. ' Each clock face is about 7 meters across.
✨ More events on this day
- 1578 🏛️ King Henry III laid the first stone of the Pont Neuf, which means "New Bridge," even though today it is the oldest bridge in Paris.
- 1879 🎨 Gilmore's Garden in New York City was renamed Madison Square Garden, a name later used by one of the world's most famous arenas for sports and concerts.
- 2008 🏅 Sprinter Usain Bolt of Jamaica ran 100 metres in 9.72 seconds in New York, breaking the world record for the first time.
🧠 Question of the day
About how wide is each Big Ben clock face?
- About 7 centimeters
- About 7 meters
- About 70 meters
Show the answer
Answer: About 7 meters
🎂 Landmarks that opened on May 31
🐾 World day: World Parrot Day
Parrots are very clever: they copy sounds and can even solve puzzles.
Questions
What happened on May 31?
May 31, 1859: Big Ben's Great Clock starts. It happened in Big Ben, London.
Which landmarks opened on May 31?
Dakshineswar Kali Temple (completed 1855), Cathedral of Brasília (completed 1970).
In the game, the "Today on Earth" panel shows this story on its day, with a question to answer and a place to fly to.
More days in May
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Ben