Robert Suren, age 9, of Milford, Conn., for his question:

HOW OLD IS BIG BEN?

Big Ben is perhaps the world's most famous bell outside of the U.S. Liberty Bell. It hangs in the clock tower of the House of Parliament in London.

Big Ben weighs 13 1/2 tons. It stands 7 1/2 feet high and is 9 feet in diameter.

The first sound from Big Ben boomed out 119 years ago shortly after it was cast in 1859. It was installed during the time that tall, stout Sir Benjamin Hall served as commissioner of works. He was called Big Ben, and members of Parliament named the bell for him.

Big Ben's neighbor, the clock in the tower, is famed for its accuracy. Its mechanism weighs about five tons, and until 1913 it was wound by hand. An electric motor now does the job. The clock has four faces and each is lighted from behind by fluorescent lamps.