Londoner’s Guide To London [Infographic]

Can you guess the name of that special London icon that always makes you remember about the British capital like no other? It’s the famous Big Ben, of course, the giant clock located at the north end of the Palace of Westminster, also known as United Kingdom’s parliament. Overall, Big Ben is a massive monument with a bell that weighs 13.5 tons: it’s considered the third largest and tallest clock tower in the world, but it’s certainly number one in popularity.

However, the London icon hides several secrets that are only known by a selected group of Londoners. The clock has not only turned into a symbol of the city and the country, but it’s also responsible for the creation of the typical slang expression “putting a penny on”, which is a popular way of saying “slowing down”. But why? Well, that is one of the city’s most well kept secrets for the foreigners. But not one that has escaped this infographic!

The expression comes from the rudimentary technique used to correctly set the clock’s time. On the top of Big Ben’s pendulum there is a small pile of pennies used to adjust the hours: all the people responsible for the clock need to do is to add or remove a penny to change the pendulum’s mass center. When the pendulum is moving too fast, a penny is added. On the other side, when the pendulum is moving too slow, a penny is removed and the Big Ben starts working normally again.

According to the experts, adding or removing a dime from the tip of the pendulum will change Big Ben’s speed in 0.4 seconds per day. Did you know that the most famous clock in the world was always right thanks to old British pennies? We bet you didn’t and that is why this infographic will help you discover a lot more fascinating secrets about London.

Source

via Business 2 Community http://www.business2community.com/infographics/londoners-guide-london-infographic-0701590?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=londoners-guide-london-infographic