No one recorded when or why the Liberty Bell first cracked, but the most likely explanation is that a narrow split developed in the early 1840’s, after nearly 90 years of hard use, according to ...

Will writes that when Marshall died in 1835 in Philadelphia, “The Liberty Bell, while tolling his death, cracked. It never rang again.” This tale is indeed told in Smith’s book, and he cites ...

It's unknown why or exactly when the Liberty Bell was damaged, though historians believe the first crack developed in the early 1840s. Metal workers were soon tasked with repairing the bell in ...