When Florence Ilott began working at the House of Commons in the early 1930s, she learned that the staff there had set a standing challenge: to run across Westminster Bridge in the time it took Big Ben to strike noon. An amateur sprinter, Ilott donned her running gear and on April 14, 1934, became the first person to fulfill the challenge
Ilott’s grandson, author and publisher Scott Pack, wrote a Twitter thread about his grandmother, and while researching it, made a delightful discovery
I wonder what she had to beat, how long it takes Big Ben to strike 12?
ReplyDeleteHmm, Google says Big Ben takes 22 seconds to strike 12 ?
ReplyDeleteanswers vary depending on the source. 22 seconds says Quora, 30 seconds says https://www.answers.com/Q/How_long_does_it_take_Big_Ben_to_chime_at_midnight which also gives an answer of 60 seconds, and https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/229213821 says 46. The more you look, the more answers are given
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