People all over the world write to Big Ben. They even send birthday presents. Big Ben is not a person. It's a clock.  Big Ben is the great clock hanging up in a tower of the parliament building. The people of London like to see Big Ben's four friendly faces. They like to hear the bell striking  on the hour. Bong! Bong! Bong! Big Ben's story started in 1834. In that year the old parliament building was burned down. Its clock tower fell to the ground. There had to be a new building and a new clock.  Plans were made. They called  for a "King of Clock, the biggest and the best in the world". So the clock had to be big. And it had to keep very good time.  In two years the big clock was made. Five more years went by before the clock tower was last finished. Then the four bells for the chimes   were brought into the tower. And at last the big hour bell was put in place. It rang out for the first time on July 11, 1859.  This great bell had to have a name. A meeting of parliament was called to pick one. "This clock is the king of clocks," one man said. "Let's call the bell the Queen of Bells."  "Then why not Victoria?" said another (Victoria was the British queen   at that time). The talk about names went on and on. Then Benjamin Hall got up to speak. He was a big man. By this time they were all tired. Someone shouted, "Why not call it Big Ben and be done with it?"  Everybody laughed, and the meeting was over. But it was called Big Ben from then on. Not just the bell but the whole clock. In 1834, what happened to the clock tower?
People finished the clock tower. People sold the clock tower. People polluted the clock tower. The clock tower broke down.