BobToday
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There has long been a rivalry between clock-makers and the cities that house them to make and possess the largest clock in the world. The rivalry is so fierce that several categories of clocks have been invented so various groups could claim ownership of the tallest or largest in the category. Big Ben, in London, is the most famous clock in the world but it is not the tallest. Big Ben is, however, the largest four-faced chiming clock. The name Big Ben originally referred to the bell inside that creates the chime, but it has since come to be a name for the entire structure. The tower housing Big Ben is 315.9 feet tall and each clock face is 180 feet above the ground. Each of the clock faces has a diameter of 23 feet. The world’s largest four-faced clock is the Allen-Bradley Clock Tower, located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The clock faces are about twice the size of Big Ben’s. Chimes were omitted from the design of the Allen-Bradley out of respect for Big Ben. It also must be noted that while the Allen-Bradley Clock is larger than Big Ben, it is not taller. The Allen-Bradley tower is only 283 feet tall.
The tallest clock in the world is the Joseph Chamberlain Memorial Clock Tower at the University of Birmingham, in England. Strangely, no one seems to know the true height of the clock tower, affectionately known as Old Joe. The University itself lists the height at both 325 feet and 361 feet in different publications. The height is thought to be correct at 361 feet but this has not been verified by accurate measurements. Each clock face is just over 17 feet in diameter and the bells it houses weigh 20 tons each. Old Joe was constructed in 1908 and will have held the record for 102 years until the fall of 2010 when it will be surpassed by the Makkah Clock Royal Tower in Saudi Arabia. This skyscraper will be 1,893 feet tall, and the clock faces will be over 131 feet in diameter.
 Posted 5391 day ago
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