France Gives US Statue of Liberty
On this day in 1885 France gave us the Statue of Liberty.
It was originally called “Liberty Enlightening the World,” the statue was to commemorate the Franco-American alliance during the American Revolution. Designed by French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi. In February 1877, Congress approved the use of a site on New York Bedloe’s Island. In May 1884, the statue was completed in France, and three months later the Americans laid the cornerstone for its pedestal in New York. On June 19, 1885, the dismantled Statue of Liberty arrived in the New World, enclosed in more than 200 packing cases. Its copper sheets were reassembled, and the last rivet of the monument was fitted on October 28, 1886, during a dedication presided over by U.S. President Grover Cleveland.
Read the whole article at History’s Mysteries blog.
