Beth Ferris, age 14, of Gadsden, Ala., for her question:

WHO CRACKED THE LIBERTY BELL

America's historic Liberty Bell was first cast in England in 1752. The province of Pennsylvania paid about $300 for it.

The bell broke in ringing after its arrival and was recast in Philadelphia from the same metal in 1753. Then the Liberty Bell rang at each successive anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence until 1835.

On July 8 in 1835, while being rung during the funeral of John Marshall, chief justice of the United States, the bell cracked again.

The bell became known as the Liberty Bell about 1839 when abolitionists began to refer to it that way. Previously, the bell had been called the Old State House Bell or Old Independence.

The Liberty Bell is no longer rung, but it has been struck on special occasions.