#2 Liberty Bell

The bell first cracked when rung after its arrival in Philadelphia, and was twice recast by local workmen John Pass and John Stow, whose last names appear on the bell. In its early years the bell was used to summon lawmakers to legislative sessions and to alert citizens about public meetings and proclamations. Although no immediate announcement was made of the Second Continental Congress's vote for independence, and so the bell could not have rung on July 4, 1776, related to that vote, bells were rung on July 8 to mark the reading of the United States Declaration of Independence.