The Story of the Crack(News Article)

By Jessica Sanchez

"The crack on Liberty Bell wasn't even that big before. More so it was no wider than a strand of hair." Historians have gushed about this mere crack, ready to see the 'mere' story of the crack?

The last time liberty Bell last rung, researchers say could've been 1817 and some time between 1846."Most likely it cracked somewhere near the years 1841 and 1845. The day can be guessed that it cracked during the ringing for George Washington's birthday or on July 4th." Historians calculated this and obtained the dates referenced from "The Story of the Liberty Bell" by David Kimball. But the most popular date of when it was cracked is 1835, traced back to a story told by Col. Frank Etting, a volunteer curator of Independence Hall in during the centennial celebration in 1876. This story was when the bell was ringing in memory of Col. John Marshall, the day of his funeral. Yet this story didn't have any publications that supported this claim between 1835 and 1876. Liberty Bell was about ninety years old when it cracked.

The one thing that distinguishes our famous Liberty Bell from any normal bell is the dog leg "crack". This dog leg "crack" is 1/2 inches wide and 24.5 inches long. Really, this crack was barely visible unless you saw it up close, Honor America research party reported. It was no bigger than a strand of hair, this thin sized crack got bigger when they put two rivets in the crack to make the two sides stop vibrating against each other. These rivets helped temporally fix the bells, E flat tone, in time for--as story and most logical theory says--for George Washington's birthday (which is on February 22, 1846). "It gave out clear notes and loud... until noon, when it received a sort of compound fracture in a zigzag direction through one of its sides, which put it completely out of tune..." - Public Ledger, Feb. 26, 1846.