Short answers, pulled from the story.
The site has been a center of power since the reign of Cnut, who ruled England from 1016 to 1035. Edward the Confessor built a palace and the first Westminster Abbey on this ground during his time as king.
A fire broke out in the palace after an overheated stove set fire to the House of Lords Chamber. Both Houses of Parliament were destroyed along with most of the other buildings in the palace complex.
Clipsham stone, a honey-coloured limestone from Rutland, was used to replace the decayed Anston starting in 1928. The project began in the 1930s but was halted by the outbreak of the Second World War and completed only during the 1950s.
The palace was hit by bombs on fourteen separate occasions during the war. The worst raid took place in the night of 10, the 11th of May 1941 when the palace took at least twelve hits.
The tower was called the Clock Tower until 2012 when it was renamed to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II. It measures 96 metres and is only slightly shorter than the Victoria Tower but much slimmer.