The Ohio Clock (or Senate Clock) is a clock in the United States Capitol. The United States Senate ordered the clock from Thomas Voigt in 1815, and it has stood in or near the Senate Chamber since 1859.
The Ohio Clock (or Senate Clock) is a clock in the United States Capitol. The United States Senate ordered the clock from Thomas Voigt in 1815, and it has stood in or near the Senate Chamber since 1859.
Senator David Daggett of Connecticut ordered the eleven-foot (3.35 m) tall clock in late December 1815 from Philadelphia clockmaker Thomas Voigt for use in the Old Brick Capitol. [1] [2] [3] The clock was delivered in 1817 to the Old Senate Chamber and was moved to the corridor outside the newly finished Senate Chamber in 1859. [4] There is no evidence to support the claim that senators hid illegal liquor in the clock during the Prohibition period. [5] The glass covering the clock's face was broken in the 1983 United States Senate bombing. [3] The clock, which was renovated in Boston in 2010, is wound weekly and keeps accurate time. [3]
The source of the clock's name is unknown. [6] One myth is that the clock was meant to commemorate Ohio's admission to the Union as the 17th state because the shield on the front of the clock's case has seventeen stars in it. However, there is no record that shows the clock celebrates Ohio's statehood and the clock was ordered twelve years after Ohio became a state, at a time when there were already eighteen states. [1] [6]
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Senate .
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The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress. The United States Senate and the lower chamber of Congress, the United States House of Representatives, comprise the federal bicameral legislature of the United States. Together, the Senate and the House have the authority under Article One of the U.S. Constitution to pass or defeat federal legislation. The Senate has exclusive power to confirm U.S. presidential appointments to high offices, approve or reject treaties, and try cases of impeachment brought by the House. The Senate and the House provide a check and balance on the powers of the executive and judicial branches of government.
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The United States Senate Chamber is a room in the north wing of the United States Capitol that has served as the legislative chamber of the United States Senate, since January 4, 1859. The Senate first convened in its current meeting place after utilizing Federal Hall, Congress Hall, and the Old Senate Chamber in the Capitol building for the same purpose.
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Thomas Voigt was an American clockmaker. He apprenticed under his father, Henry Voigt, an American Revolution era clockmaker and inventor.
