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Either way, it is the quintessential London experience to emerge from the Underground,
walk along the Thames on a foggy Sunday morning and hear Big Ben toll. If you're not in Lon-
don, it can still be heard frequently on the radio via the BBC World Service on AM in Europe,
and satellite and short-wave elsewhere.
• 1949 – Big Ben's time falls behind by 4½ minutes when a flock of birds perches on the
minute hand.
• 1962 – Big Ben sounds the New Year ten minutes late because of a buildup of heavy
snow on its hands.
• 20 March 2004 – Protestors scale Big Ben and unfurl a banner protesting war.
10 DOWNING STREET
The modest façade of this building does not reveal the power behind its legendary
black door. This is the home of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. It is from this
place that, for hundreds of years, power has radiated throughout the kingdom.
Though the portal appears modest, it conceals a much more complicated building inside.
Number 10 is connected to another building, which used to be a standalone mansion. The
Downing Street location gets its name from Sir George Downing, a civil servant who built the
street on the site of the demolished Axe Brewery. It has been abandoned since the early 16th
century. When that building was leveled, it became a residential zone.
The earliest record of a home on the spot is from 1581. But the history goes back much far-
ther than that. In the ninth century, the area was known as the Isle of Thorns. By the 11th cen-
tury, King Canute had a palace constructed in the area. Subsequent rulers expanded their royal
dwellings, and the area became commonly known as the seat of government. The last palace in
this neighborhood was Whitehall, which burned down in 1698.
However, it wasn't until 1732 that King George II designated Number 10 the official resi-
dence of the First Lord of the Treasury, who is also the Prime Minister. The first Prime Minister
to live here was Sir Robert Walpole; the last private citizen to live here was a Mister Chicken
who left in 1735.
The mailbox outside reads, "First Lord of the Treasury." Technically speaking, it is his offi-
cial residence. But since the Prime Minister is also the First Lord of the Treasury, it is the de
facto Prime Minister's residence. The building is made of yellow bricks. These were blackened
by decades of exposure to sooty London air. They were cleaned in the 1960's, and painted black
because the public couldn't cope with the yellow color. It is said that the front door of the build-
ing can only be opened from the inside.
• 1500 – The Axe Brewery is abandoned and the land redeveloped.
• 1581 – First record of a residential home in this location.
• 1698 – Whitehall Palace burns down.
• 1732 – The building is designated the official home of the Prime Minister.
• 1732 – Number 10 is linked to a larger mansion to create a single building.
• 1735 – Mister Chicken moves out. The first British Prime Minister moves in.
• 1894 – Electric lights are installed.
• 1960 – Renovated to prevent collapse. The façade was preserved, but everything else
gutted and rebuilt.
• 7 February 1991 – The building is attacked by a mortar launched from a nearby van by
Irish terrorists. The bomb landed in the backyard and blew out the windows.
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