The Bell's history dates back to 1751, when the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly purchased it. It was cast in London's Whitechapel Bell Foundry and arrived in Philadelphia in August 1752. It was intended to hang in the new State House "Independence Hall." However, during its first test strike, the Bell cracked. It was recast twice more and finally weighed 2,080 pounds and measured 12 feet in circumference and three feet at the crown.
The crack in the Liberty Bell first appeared in the early 1840s, after nearly 90 years of heavy use. Metal workers in Philadelphia repaired this crack using a "stop drilling" technique to ensure it would not spread further. This method resulted in the wide "crack" you can see today. Interestingly enough, the Bell cracked again on George Washington's birthday in 1846, which caused the Bell to remain silent for the rest of that day.
Once the Bell had been rehung in Philadelphia, it went on a road show. The Bell then traveled to the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. The Bell was then returned to Independence Hall for 60 years. After its return, the Bell was renamed after a group of abolitionists adopted it as a symbol of their cause. It later rang out the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. It's now housed at The Liberty Bell Center in Philadelphia.
