London’s Big Ben Gets New Name

Big Ben gets new name

The United Kingdom’s most famous parliament clock tower is to be renamed Elizabeth Tower in honour of the queen’s Diamond jubilee. The announcement was made on Tuesday. This comes after dozens of lawmakers signed up to a campaign to change of the tower.

Officially it was named the Clock Tower, but it was commonly known as Big Ben, its name will be changed in celebration of Queen Elizabeth’s 60th year on the throne. Big Ben is technically the name of the huge bell at the top of 96-metre, which is one of London’s best-loved landmarks.

Despite the name change, lawmakers accepted that the iconic tower, which sounds out the hours over central London with distinctive “bongs”, will continue to be known colloquially as Big Ben. (AV)