Liberty Bell

Liberty Bell, historic bell in Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, rung on July 8, 1776, after the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence. The bell weighs 943.5 kg (2080 lb) and is 3.7 m (12 ft) in circumference at the lip. The bell bears the following inscription: “Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land unto All the Inhabitants Thereof. Leviticus xxv:x.”

The bell was ordered in 1751 and was cast in London. It arrived in Philadelphia in August 1752 and was cracked while being tested. It was melted down, and a second bell was cast in April 1753, but this one was also defective. A third was cast in June of that year, by the firm of Pass and Stowe in Philadelphia. On June 7, 1753, the third bell was hung in the tower of Independence Hall.

In 1777, during the American Revolution, British troops occupied Philadelphia. The bell was removed from the tower and taken to Allentown, Pennsylvania, for safekeeping. It was returned to Philadelphia and replaced in Independence Hall in 1778. Thereafter, the bell was rung on every July 4 and on every state occasion until 1835, when, according to tradition, it cracked as it was being tolled for the death of Chief Justice John Marshall. The bell was moved to a glass pavilion near Independence Hall in 1976. It moved to the Liberty Bell Center, part of a $300 million renovation to the Independence National Historical Park, in 2003.