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15 Fascinating Facts About the Statue of Liberty

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The history of the Statue of Liberty is a fascinating, inspired tale. Learn more about the United States with this engrossing Statue of Liberty info.

A Gift from France

France gave the Statue of Liberty to the United States on July 4, 1884, as a birthday gift. The statue was built in France, presented to the United States, taken apart, shipped across the Atlantic Ocean in crates, and rebuilt in New York Harbor.

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Tall and Proud

Without its pedestal, the Statue of Liberty is as tall as a 15-story building. At 151 feet, it was the tallest structure in the United States at the time it was built.

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Gustav Eiffel

Engineer Gustav Eiffel designed the spine of the Statue of Liberty. He would later go on to design the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

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Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi

Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi used his mother as the model for the giant copper goddess he wanted to build. A metal framework holds the thin copper skin.

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Hand and Torch

The arm with the torch measures 46 feet; the finger, 8 feet. The torch sways 5 inches in the wind.

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Nose Job

Lady Liberty's nose measures almost 5 feet long. The statue sways 3 inches in the wind.

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Crown Achievement

Visitors would have to climb 22 stories, or 354 steps, to look out from the crown's 25 windows. Seven rays in the crown represent the seven seas of Earth.

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Copper Construction

Hundreds of sheets of copper as thin as coins cover the statue. Workers hammered the copper into different shapes and riveted the pieces together.

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The New Colossus

Emma Lazarus wrote the poem "The New Colossus" in 1883. The poem begins "Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame" and is displayed on the statue's pedestal.

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The Patent

The U.S. Patent Office issued a design patent to Bartholdi for the Statue of Liberty in 1789. The patent expired after 14 years.

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Closed by Sandy

The National Park Service closed the Statue of Liberty indefinitely after Hurricane Sandy tore through Lower Manhattan in 2012. Bartholdi's "Liberty Enlightening the World" has overlooked New York Harbor since 1886.

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Origin Story

The Statue of Liberty was originally meant to represent an Egyptian peasant woman as a Colossus of Rhodes for the Industrial Age. In 1855, Bartholdi visited Nubian monuments featuring gigantic colossus figures guarding tombs.

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Torch Song

The statue's current torch replaced the original in 1985. The first torch is now located in the Statue of Liberty Museum scheduled to open in May 2019.

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Heavyweight Light

The original torch weighs 3,600 pounds and is 16 feet tall and 12 feet wide. It had been displayed in the statue's pedestal for ticketed guests to view since 1985.

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Happy Birthday

France intended its towering gift to commemorate the 100th birthday of the Declaration of Independence. A French flag had covered Lady Liberty's face during construction until Bartholdi climbed up and released it before a crowd of 1 million cheering New Yorkers.

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