so they could figure out where they were. the centre of all british nautical charts was the greenwich meridian, 0 degrees, and each vessel also kept a fancy clock on board that told them local time at the meridian and helped them to calculate their position really precisely. but over long journeys, how could the captains keep those clocks accurate to the second? well, to bring in the new year in 1923, the bbc ran an experiment to broadcast the midnight bongs of big ben on the radio. it was a bonging success and the following year the first fully accessible time signal, the greenwich time signal, started to be broadcast every hour and it hasn t stopped since. the pips, as they were known, were generated by a swinging pendulum fitted with electrical contacts.
of big ben where the countdown was projected within the london eye in the lead up to midnight. a spectacular firework display lit up the skies for around 12 minutes in what was thought to be the largest display in europe with over 12,000 fireworks. there were tributes to the late queen elizabeth, to ukraine s resistance against russian invasion, and 50 years of pride celebrations. the display returned to the banks of the river thames for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic. 0ur correspondent greg mckenzie has been soaking up the atmosphere amongst the many thousands of revellers. i am absolutely speechless. that was a i2 minute spectacular. the biggest firework display in the entire europe having taken place just a few minutes ago, and in an incredible way to start the new year. big ben, the chimes the bongs of the big ben started as did the fireworks over here at the london eye iconic around the world. a i2 minute spectacular
spectacular. the biggest firework display in the entire europe having taken place just a few minutes ago, and in an incredible way to start the new year. big ben, the chimes the bongs of the big ben started as did the fireworks over here at the london eye iconic around the world. i am actually speechless having watched it right here, and just behind us are hundreds of thousands, or 100,000 people, who managed to get tickets, and now you can hear the famous song, auld lang syne, which isjust playing in the background, people cheering and celebrating to 2023. there were messages being played out with those fireworks a message with the queen, a message from the mayor, in terms of the yearjust gone. 2022 is no more. and we now focus on the new year, 2023. greg mckenzie from the banks of the river thames.
well, to bring in the new year in 1923, the bbc ran an experiment to broadcast the midnight bongs of big ben on the radio. big ben bongs it was a bonging success, and the following year it was a bonging success, and the following year the first fully accessible time signal, the greenwich time signal, started to be broadcast every hour and it hasn t stopped since. the pips, as they were known, were generated by a swinging pendulum fitted with electrical contacts. so now you could have accurate greenwich mean time literally anywhere that you had a radio. the pips have become legendary, a symbol of bbc radio, and who better to tell us about them than another legend of bbc radio, tony blackburn. archive: welcome along - to the tony blackburn show this morning for this tuesday 9th december. my thanks, as always tojohn dunn for swinging us up until the seven o clock hour.
the centre of all british nautical charts was the greenwich meridian, 0 degrees, and each vessel also kept a fancy clock on board that told them local time at the meridian and helped them to calculate their position really precisely. but over long journeys, how could the captains keep those clocks accurate to the second? well, to bring in the new year in 1923, the bbc ran an experiment to broadcast the midnight bongs of big ben on the radio. it was a bonging success and the following year the first fully accessible time signal, the greenwich time signal, started to be broadcast every hour and it hasn t stopped since. the pips, as they were known, were generated by a swinging pendulum fitted with electrical contacts. so now you could have accurate greenwich mean time literally anywhere that you had a radio.