London's Big Ben clock tower

The name Big Ben actually refers to the clock's hour bell, the largest of the clock's five bells, the others being used as quarter bells.
BIG BEN

There were two bells cast as the clock tower's hour bell. A first, a 16 ton weighing bell was cast by John Warner and Sons in 1856. Since the Clock Tower was not yet completed, the bell was hung temporarily in the Palace Yard. The bell soon cracked so it was recast in 1858 in the Whitechapel Bell Foundry as a 13.5 ton bell. Unfortunately soon after this bell was placed in the belfry in July 1859, it cracked as well. This time, instead of yet again recasting the bell, the crack was repaired and a lighter hammer was used to prevent any more cracks.The hour bell was probably named after Benjamin Hall,

Clockface

the First Commissioner of Works. Some sources however claim the bell was named after Benjamin Caunt, a British heavyweight boxing champion.

THE CLOCK

The clock was the largest in the world and still the largest in Great-Britain. The clockfaces have a diameter of almost 25ft (7.5m). The hour hand is 9ft or 2.7m long and the minute hand is 14ft (4.25m) long.
The clock is known for its reliability, it has rarely failed during its long life span. Even after the nearby House of Commons was destroyed by bombing during World War II, the clock kept on chiming. The clock's

mechanism, designed by Edmund Beckett Denison, has a remarkable accuracy. The clock's rate is adjusted by simply adding small pennies on the shoulder of the pendulum.

THE TOWER

The tower was constructed between 1843 and 1858 as the clock tower of the Palace of Westminster, now better known as the Houses of Parliament. The clock tower - its official name is Saint Stephen's tower - is 316ft high (96m) and consists of a 200ft (61m) high brick shaft topped by a cast iron framed spire. The clockfaces are 180ft / 55m above ground level

Paris_Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower was built for the 1889 World Fair which also coincided with the centenary of the French Revolution. Out of a number of designs submitted as part of a competition, Alexandre Gustave Eiffel won, and was responsible for erecting the Eiffel Tower.Even though it is one of the best known monuments worldwide, many facts about the Eiffel Tower are not known to many.

Following are a few important facts about the Eiffel Tower.

-- Erection of the Eiffel Tower began on January 26, 1887
-- Erection of the Eiffel Tower was completed on March 31, 1889
-- Erection of the Eiffel Tower took 2 years, 2 months, and 5 days from start to finish
-- Alexandre Gustave Eiffel was the main architect, Maurice Koechlin and Emile Nouguier were the main engineers, Stephen Sauvestre was the main architect, and Jean Compagnon handled the construction of the Eiffel Tower
-- Alexandre Gustave Eiffel is the very person who created the internal frame of the Statue of Liberty in the year 1885
-- The Eiffel Tower stands 324 meters tall
-- Material used for the Eiffel Tower is wrought iron (puddle iron) of the highest quality
-- The Eiffel Tower was made using 9441 tons of wrought iron
-- A total of 18038 pieces of wrought iron were joined together to create the Eiffel Tower
-- Approximately 60 tons of paint is required to paint the Eiffel Tower
-- The Eiffel Tower is painted every 7 years in 3 shades of brown (darkest shade at the bottom)
-- Even today painting the Eiffel Tower is done using brushes
-- In clear weather (very seldom seen today) you can see approximately 42 miles from the top of the Eiffel Tower
-- The base of the Eiffel Tower covers a square area of 100 meters
-- During gusty winds, the Eiffel Tower sways upto 15 cms at its summit
-- The names of 72 prominent French scientists and famous personalities are affixed on the sides of Eiffel Tower just beneath the first platform, 18 names per side
-- There was only one death during the construction period of the Eiffel Tower, that too outside working hours and not work related
-- Alexandre Gustave Eiffel died on December 27, 1923 in Paris
-- The Eiffel Tower has a total of 1710 steps to the topmost third level small platform, 674 steps to the second level, and 347 steps to the first level, all counted from the ground
-- The Eiffel Tower was to be dismantled and the metal sold as scrap 20 years after it was constructed, but this never happened
-- The Eiffel Tower was the tallest structure when it was built, but this has been surpassed over the years
-- Today, the Eiffel Tower is open to the public every day of the year
-- Persons on wheelchairs can visit the Eiffel Tower upto the second level using the elevator
-- You can use the steps only till the second platform (the third platform is accessible only via elevators)
-- The Eiffel Tower has got restaurants on the first and second platforms
-- The restaurant on the first platform is Altitude 95 and faces the river Seine
-- The restaurant on the second platform is named Jules Verne and needs prior booking
-- The Eiffel Tower belongs to the city of Paris and is given on a renewable contract to a limited company named Societe d'exploitation de la Tour Eiffel
-- Over 200 million people have visited the Eiffel Tower since its inception

Rome_Coliseum

Roman Coliseum Facts

• Flavian Empire - As discussed earlier, the Roman coliseum was initially known as the "Flavian Amphitheater". It is an enormous and gigantic edifice of the ancient Roman realm. The Roman monarch Vespasian instigated the structure of the Roman Coliseum in the year 70 AD. He was the initiator of the Flavian Empire.
• 100 Days! - The Roman coliseum was finished in 80 AD after the passing away of the monarch. The subsequent successor to the throne, King Titus, unlocked it for the public. It is believed the opening ceremony lasted for more than 100 days!
• Colossus - Coliseum was constructed near the enormous statue of Colossus and engaged a fraction of the Nero's park. The existing name was thus derived from the effigy of Colossus.
• Capacity - The Roman Coliseum is an arena that has the ability to accommodate 50,000 people at a time. Formerly, it had 4 floors, where the first 3 had broad vaulted entry and the 4 floor had rectangular doorways.
• High and Mighty - The altitude of every floor is roughly between 32 to 42 feet high. The entire height of the complete structure is approximately 144 feet. The dimension of the amphitheatre is 79 x 45 meters. In Latin "arena" implies "sand". Interestingly, the arena of the Coliseum was made of sand and wood. There were lofty nets along the sides of the Coliseum to shield the audience.
• Open for all - The Roman Coliseum had 76 openings and an extra 4 entrance held in reserve for the ruler, aristocrats and the gladiators.
• Exit in 5 Minutes! - A significant piece of information that is worth mentioning is that Coliseum is intended in such a way that complete audience could be dispersed in a time span of barely 5 minutes. The heart of the Coliseum is separated into an stadium where the performance used to take place.
• Class Distinction - The seats were prearranged as per the social grade of the audience. The seats on the initial 3 tiers from the top were generally held in reserve for the aristocrats while the common man was accommodated on seats from the 4 tier.
• Wooded Floorings - The floor or the stadium had cavernous compartments where the gladiators relaxed prior to the performance. At times the wooden floor of the Roman coliseum was detached and the whole ground that spans 6 acres of land was swamped with water.