Liberty Bell

Strapped to a specially made cart with wheels, the Liberty Bell made a four-hour, 1,000-foot journey to its new Philadelphia home in a procession featuring historical reenactments. The bell was moved to the Liberty Bell Center, a new facility constructed as part of a sweeping $314-million transformation of Independence Mall. The trip was interrupted frequently by actors reenacting historic moments.

Growing up in Philadelphia, I could hardly avoid history. Virtually every semester in grammar school, we would be packed on to buses to visit all the approved historical stops: the Liberty Bell, Ben Franklin's grave, Betsy Ross' house, then lunch and back to improper fractions. Southern California was different. When I first arrived in the 1960s, all I could see was the absence of the East, no overhanging past, no famous history. There were palm trees and open spaces, as well as a fair number of buildings.

A man hurled a block of granite at a glass pavilion housing the Liberty Bell early Friday, shattering the glass but not damaging the historic bell, authorities said. Police said an unidentified man threw a rock at the large glass enclosure.

The command center of Andrew Breitbart's growing media empire is a suite of offices on Sawtelle Boulevard in West Los Angeles with the temporary feel of a campaign office. Only the computers seem firmly anchored. On a recent summer day, just weeks after he posted video clips that touched off a national furor over race, Breitbart was swigging a bottled Frappuccino at his desk. In a Lacoste shirt, cargo shorts and laceless Converse All-Stars, he looked every bit the 41-year-old industry player he might have been, but for a political awakening that transformed this liberal, West Side child of privilege into a Hollywood-hating, mainstream-media-loathing conservative.

An unspecified threat against the Liberty Bell prompted authorities to tighten security in Philadelphia's popular historic district. The National Park Service and city police added patrols at the Independence National Historic Park, which includes the Liberty Bell pavilion and Independence Hall, and nearby federal properties including the U.S. Mint and the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Park facilities remained open.

A self-described wanderer who pulled a hammer from a backpack and pounded on the Liberty Bell last year was sentenced Tuesday to nine months in prison. Mitchell A. Guilliatt, 28, was also given five years' probation and ordered to repay the $7,093 cost of repairing the gouge marks he made in the symbol of liberty. Guilliatt will serve his time in Boise, Idaho, near the home of his mother, where he had been confined and electronically monitored since the incident.

A man dressed in military fatigues and shouting about God attacked the 249-year-old Liberty Bell with a hammer Friday in front of a group of astonished tourists, federal park officials said. The unidentified man was quickly wrestled to the ground and arrested by National Park rangers inside the small glass Liberty Bell pavilion near Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were adopted in the 18th century.

People shocked and angry after the terrorist attacks visited the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia on Wednesday to find solace in one of the nation's most enduring symbols. "It's here where America started in 1776. We were free then, we are free now, and some people hate us for it," said Effie Rodik, a New York City resident leading a tour group of Israelis. "The fact that people are here today, one day after this terrible attack, shows that we may be sad, but no one can break the spirit of America."

The Liberty Bell will survive the scars it sustained after a self-described wanderer struck the famous landmark with a hammer four times, curators said. The lip of the 249-year-old symbol of freedom was chipped and dented, but the Philadelphia Museum of Art's conservation department made cosmetic repairs. Permanent repairs are planned. "There are lots of different dents, and the damage isn't all from this century or the century before.

Sharing America's birthday with South African President Frederik W. de Klerk and African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela, President Clinton on Sunday vowed to be a full partner in South Africa's "journey to non-racial democracy." Clinton presented the two former bitter foes with the Liberty Medal, a $100,000 prize awarded annually to those who foster democracy and human rights.

One day in 1996, readers of The Times, the Wall Street Journal and several other newspapers were stunned to see an announcement by Taco Bell that it had purchased the Liberty Bell "in an effort to help the national debt." In full-page ads, the fast-food chain said that the nation's symbol of freedom would now be called the "Taco Liberty Bell" and would split its time between Philadelphia and Taco Bell's headquarters in Irvine. Taco Bell voiced the hope that other corporations would "do their part to reduce the country's debt."

Soar with the Liberty Belle You can relive history on the Liberty Belle, a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber from World War II. It will make a two-week swing through Southern California, including Sunday in San Diego County, Saturday and next Sunday in Long Beach, and March 13 and 14 in Burbank. Half-hour rides cost $430 per person. Seven people can ride on each flight. If you don't want to spend $430, you can, free of charge, watch the warplane take off and land and tour it after the last flight of the day. Reservations are accepted at (918)

WHAT Whitechapel Bell Foundry WHERE 32-34 Whitechapel Road, London WHY TAKE THE DETOUR Step from Whitechapel Road's traffic-jammed clamor into the library-like calm of this tiny East London shop. But don't be deceived by its unassuming demeanor: This 437-year-old business fronts a bell-making operation that crafted Philadelphia's Liberty Bell and the Great Bell of Westminster, otherwise known as Big Ben.

In October 1795 an African named Joe, who was born a slave and died a slave, arrived here from Mount Vernon, Va. He accompanied the presidential coach of George Washington, who called him "Postilion Joe," for Joe was a postilion, or footman. Joe worked at the Robert Morris house, which served as the presidential residence during Philadelphia's decade as the new nation's capital. Many historians believe he slept in slave quarters behind the mansion, now known as President's House.

Strapped to a specially made cart with wheels, the Liberty Bell made a four-hour, 1,000-foot journey to its new Philadelphia home in a procession featuring historical reenactments. The bell was moved to the Liberty Bell Center, a new facility constructed as part of a sweeping $314-million transformation of Independence Mall. The trip was interrupted frequently by actors reenacting historic moments.

A self-described wanderer who pulled a hammer from a backpack and pounded on the Liberty Bell last year was sentenced Tuesday to nine months in prison. Mitchell A. Guilliatt, 28, was also given five years' probation and ordered to repay the $7,093 cost of repairing the gouge marks he made in the symbol of liberty. Guilliatt will serve his time in Boise, Idaho, near the home of his mother, where he had been confined and electronically monitored since the incident.

America marks its second annual national observance today of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with parades, marches, ecumenical church services, gospel programs and the pealing of the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. "Let Freedom Ring," the dramatic refrain in the martyred civil rights leader's immortal "I Have a Dream" speech at the 1963 March on Washington demonstration, is this year's holiday theme.

An unspecified threat against the Liberty Bell prompted authorities to tighten security in Philadelphia's popular historic district. The National Park Service and city police added patrols at the Independence National Historic Park, which includes the Liberty Bell pavilion and Independence Hall, and nearby federal properties including the U.S. Mint and the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Park facilities remained open.

A man who struck the Liberty Bell outside Independence Hall in Philadelphia with a small sledgehammer pleaded guilty to damaging an archeological resource. Mitchell A. Guilliatt, 27, entered the plea before a federal judge via video conference from his mother's home in Boise, Idaho, where he has been confined and electronically monitored since June. He faces as much as six months in prison when he's sentenced April 23. Prosecutors dropped a charge of attempting to injure federal property.