1916: For two years during World War I, the bells were silenced and the clock faces were not illuminated at night to avoid guiding attacking German Zeppelins. The bells were restored at 11 a.m. on 11 November 1918 to mark the end of the war. 29 December 1927: Snow build-up on a clock face stopped the clock.

While "Big Ben" (the Great Bell inside the Elizabeth Tower) is a symbol of British democracy, its history is marked by engineering failures and a proximity to the grim history of the Palace of Westminster. The first bell cast for the tower in 1856 was a disaster; it cracked during testing before it was even hung. The second bell, the one we hear today, also cracked shortly after installation in 1859, and remained silent for four years while a solution was found. Beyond the bell itself, the Elizabeth Tower contains a "Prison Room" intended for Members of Parliament who breached parliamentary privilege; the last person to be imprisoned there was Charles Bradlaugh in 1880 for refusing to take a religious oath. Furthermore, during World War II, the clock tower was a primary target for the Luftwaffe; while it survived the Blitz, the nearby House of Commons chamber was destroyed by an incendiary bomb in May 1941. The tower has also seen its share of tragedies during various renovation periods, with workers facing dangerous conditions high above the city. Today, it stands as a resilient icon, but its construction was a story of Victorian trial, error, and political imprisonment.