Elizabeth Tower is the giant London clock tower whose bells mark midnight on New Year's Eve.
Elizabeth Tower stands at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London. It is commonly, though technically incorrectly, called Big Ben. Big Ben is the nickname of the Great Bell inside the tower, not the name of the tower itself. The tower was completed in 1859 as part of Charles Barry and Augustus Pugin’s rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster.
The clock’s four illuminated faces and the sound of the Great Bell have become central symbols of British timekeeping. On New Year’s Eve, television broadcasts often show the clock approaching midnight before the bell sounds the arrival of the new year. The tower was renamed Elizabeth Tower in 2012 to honor Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee.
The clock uses four quarter bells as well as the hour bell. This distinction explains why news reports may refer either to Big Ben, the bell, or Elizabeth Tower, the building containing it.