The most famous cracked object in American history waits in front of you. The Liberty Bell was cast in London in 1752 and shipped to Philadelphia, where it cracked on its first test ring. It was recast twice by Philadelphia foundrymen John Pass and John Stow, whose names appear on the bell, and hung in the steeple of the Pennsylvania State House — Independence Hall — where it rang to summon lawmakers to session and citizens to public gatherings.
The bell cracked again at some point in the early nineteenth century, probably in 1835 or 1846, and the famous wide crack was drilled to prevent further propagation and to restore the sound, which the crack had silenced. The inscription around the crown reads Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land Unto All the Inhabitants Thereof, from Leviticus 25:10. Abolitionists adopted the bell as a symbol in the 1830s and gave it the name Liberty Bell.
It toured the country several times in the late nineteenth century, accumulating hairline cracks from the journey, and has been stationary since 1915. Look at the bell from all angles; the crack is wider and more complex than photographs suggest.