the.com/liberty bell

means A large bronze bell in Philadelphia, cracked and silent, kept as a national symbol of American independence and liberty.

from Cast in London in 1752 for Pennsylvania's State House, the bell cracked almost immediately and was recast twice by local founders before it ever rang properly. The famous crack it's known for today developed sometime in the 1800s, likely from a flaw in that recasting or from stress over years of ringing; the exact moment it split is uncertain despite various colorful legends. It only became 'the Liberty Bell' later, when abolitionists in the 1830s adopted it as an emblem, pointing to its biblical inscription about 'proclaiming liberty throughout the land' — so the name is younger than the bell itself, and arguably more famous than anything it ever actually rang for.