Big Ben Quiz and Answers

Quiz

1. What's the official name of the London landmark and clock tower which all of us know as Big Ben?
2. Big Ben's hour hand is made of gun metal. What is the minute hand made of?
3. The height of another London landmark, Nelson's Column, is 52 metres. What is the height of Big Ben: (a) 38 metres, (b) 54 metres, or (c) 96 metres tall?
4. How many steps refers to the number of stairs in the clock tower of Big Ben according to Scottish novelist John Buchan?








5. All of the clock’s faces have a Latin inscription asking the Lord God to keep who safe?
6. What does it mean when green lantern above Big Ben shines?
7. The movement of the hands of each clock is controlled by a pendulum. If the clocks happen to run fast, what is traditionally added to the pendulum?
8. The tower was designed in neo-Gothic style by which English architect and designer?
9. The nickname Big Ben is actually the nickname of what?
10. The clock was completed at the end of which decade?

Answers

1. Elizabeth Tower
2. Copper
3. (c) 96 metres
4. 39 steps (The Thirty Nine Steps)
5. Queen Victoria (the inscription reads: 'Domine Salvam fac Reginam Nostram Victoriam Primam' which translates to 'O Lord, keep safe our Queen Victoria the First')
6. Parliament is in session
7. An old penny
8. Augustus Pugin
9. The Great Bell, or the clock's biggest bell
10. 1850s (31 May 1859)