Curious anecdotes about London's landmark, the Big Ben clock tower

1. Starlings bring Big Ben to a standstill

Since the opening of the bell tower, the clock has been almost always accurate.

There have been six exceptions so far:

In 1949, a large flock of starlings chose Big Ben as a cozy vantage point. The birds perched on the clock hands, slowing them down. On New Year's Eve in 1962, it was so cold that the clock's mechanics malfunctioned. In 2005, the clock even stopped for 90 minutes due to a broken gear.

The biggest irregularities to date occurred in 2015, when the clock didn't strike on time for almost two weeks. The clockmaster in charge took it in stride. The BBC, however, had a tough time: Since it broadcasts the 6 p.m. news chime live, the delayed ringing surprised the newsreaders and interrupted their presentation.

April Fools' Day: Digital clock face

Londoners weren't amused: On April 1, 1980, the BBC had its newsreaders announce that the four clock faces on the clock tower would be replaced with digital displays. Furthermore, the first four callers could each win the hands of the four clocks. Unfortunately, the joke was taken very seriously, and the BBC had to reassure many agitated listeners who wanted to support the continued use of the analogue clock faces that it was just an April Fools' joke. The fastest caller, incidentally, was a Japanese sailor who had heard the program and called to secure one of the four hands.

3. Already broken?

Big Ben, the bell itself, has a crack. And it's been like that for quite some time. To be precise, the crack appeared after just two months, in September 1859. The reason? The hammer is too big. The same thing happened to the previous model. The first "Big Ben" bell had to be melted down again because the damage caused during the test ringing was beyond repair. The second version of Big Ben was cast by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, which had also made the American Liberty Bell 100 years earlier. It, too, cracked during its first ring.

If you're wondering what the 100-year learning curve was, it's worth mentioning that the cause of the crack didn't lie with the foundry itself. An official of the British Parliament, who was responsible for Big Ben and took the issue very seriously, chose a hammer that was too large.

The bell foundry has survived to this day, but will close its business in May 2017. And the crack hasn't been detrimental to Big Ben—in fact, its distinctive sound has become the bell's trademark.