---
title: "Which came first, Big Ben or the Statue of Liberty?"
description: "Big Ben vs the Statue of Liberty: Big Ben came first, by 27 years — 1859 against 1886. What happened in each case, and why the dates are often given differently."
url: https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/big-ben-vs-statue-of-liberty/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Which came first, Big Ben or the Statue of Liberty?

**Which came first, Big Ben or the Statue of Liberty?: Big Ben**

1859 — 27 years before the Statue of Liberty

Big Ben came first, by 27 years. The great bell rang for the first time.

## Side by side

|  | Big Ben | the Statue of Liberty |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Year | 1859 | 1886 |
| Date | 1859-07-11 | 1886-10-28 |
| Category | landmark | landmark |
| What happened | The great bell rang for the first time. | The statue was dedicated in New York Harbor. |

## Big Ben

Big Ben is the bell, not the tower and not the clock. It first rang in July 1859, cracked within two months, and has rung with that crack ever since — which is why it has its particular sound. The tower was called the Clock Tower until 2012, when it was renamed Elizabeth Tower for the Diamond Jubilee.

## the Statue of Liberty

Dedicated in October 1886, the statue predates the Eiffel Tower by two and a half years — and its internal iron framework was designed by Gustave Eiffel, who went on to use what he learned on the tower. It arrived from France in 214 crates and the American side had to raise the money for the pedestal by public subscription, which nearly failed. The copper skin is about 2.4 mm thick, roughly the thickness of two pennies.

## Common questions

### Which came first, Big Ben or the Statue of Liberty?

Big Ben, by 27 years — 1859 against 1886.

### When did Big Ben start?

1859. The great bell rang for the first time.

### When did the Statue of Liberty start?

1886. The statue was dedicated in New York Harbor.

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## Sources

- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation (https://www.wikidata.org/) [CC0 1.0]