The famous tower clock known as Big Ben, located at the top of the 320-foot-
high Elizabeth Tower, rang out over the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, London, for the first time on May 31, 1859.

After a fire destroyed much of the Palace of Westminster—the headquarters
of the British Parliament—in October 1834, a standout feature of the design
for the new palace was a large clock atop a tower. The royal astronomer, Sir
George Airy, wanted the clock to have pinpoint accuracy, including twice-a-
day checks with the Royal Greenwich Observatory. While many clockmakers dismissed this goal as impossible, Airy counted on the help of Edmund
Beckett Denison, a formidable barrister known for his expertise in horology,
or the science of measuring time.

Sir George Biddell Airy
(July 27, 1801 – January 2, 1892)

Sir Edmund Beckett Denison
(1787 – 1874)

Actor/Director Clint Eastwood (Clinton Eastwood Jr.) is 90
years old today. 

ROSS SIMPSON

The last steel beam that was standing from one of the World
Trade Centre towers is driven up West Street between rows
of New York City Fire and Police Department officers.   

   
In New York, a ceremony was held to officially mark the end
of the clean up from the World Trade Center terrorist attacks
on September 11, 2001.     

At 11:30 a.m. on May 29, 1953, Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing
Norgay, a Sherpa of Nepal, become the first explorers to reach the summit
of Mount Everest, which at 29,035 feet above sea level is the highest point
on earth. The two, part of a British expedition, made their final assault on
the summit after spending a fitful night at 27,900 feet. News of their
achievement broke around the world on June 2, the day of Queen Elizabeth
II’s coronation, and Britons hailed it as a good omen for their country’s
future.