Today is the anniversary of the dedication of the Statue of Liberty in 1886. The ceremony was hosted by Pres. Cleveland.
Interesting facts about the Statue of Liberty:
– it was first proposed by French Edouard de Laboulaye to commemorate the American-French alliance in the Revolutionary War
– it was originally called “Liberty Enlightening the World”
– it was sculpted by Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi; the structural engineer was Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel
– the face is supposedly Bartholdi’s mother Charlotte
– it was started in 1875 and completed in 1884 , reassembled in America and dedicated in 1886
– a smaller version (35 feet tall) was dedicated to Americans living in Paris and is still on an island in the Seine River a mile from the Eiffel Tower
– the crown has 25 windows and 7 spikes (one for each of the seven seas)
– the tablet has the date July 4, 1776 in Roman numerals
– it is 152’ from the base to the torch and 305’ to the tip of the torch
– there are 192 steps from the ground to the top of the pedestal and 354 more to the crown
– the index finger is 8 feet long
– the sandal size is 879
– from 1886-1902 it was a functional lighthouse
– a new torch was put on in 1986
Amazing 499-500
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