Expert: Mark Smith - 9/18/2009

Question
I read somewhere that a flock of birds landed on the second hand of Big Ben in 1945, causing it to go slow.  Is this true or just an urban myth ???

Answer
Hello Miriam.
Strictly speaking Big Ben is the name of the bell not the clock, but I know what you mean.
The clock has stopped or run slow several times over the 150 years since it was first started in 1859, mostly through extreme cold or accidental human interference. The incident with a flock of starlings occured on the evening 12 August 1949 when they landed on one of the minute hands, there are four faces (there is no second hand) and slowed it by five minutes. It was corrected after a few hours.     
Mark