The bell was cast in 1752 in London by Lester and Pack, later the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. It cracked on its first strike in Philadelphia. John Pass and John Stow recast it in 1752 and 1753, adding copper. The first recast sounded bad, so they did it again.
It weighs 2,080 pounds. The inscription comes from Leviticus 25:10. The famous crack formed between 1817 and 1846, most likely near the end of that span.
Abolitionists called it the Liberty Bell in the 1830s. It moved to the Liberty Bell Center in October 2003.