1886:  Liberty Belle

The largest present ever sent to the American people was inaugurated on Liberty Island in the Upper Bay of New York Harbour on October 28, 1886, by President Grover Cleveland.

The Statue of Liberty is a figure of Libertas, a robed Roman liberty goddess. She holds a torch above her head with her right hand, and in her left hand carries a tabula ansata inscribed in Roman numerals with ‘JULY IV MDCCLXXVI’ (July 4, 1776), the date of the US Declaration of Independence. A broken shackle and chain lie at her feet as she walks forward, commemorating the recent national abolition of slavery.

The statue became an icon of freedom and of the United States, and a national park tourism destination. It is a welcoming sight to immigrants arriving from abroad. Weighing 225 tons and measuring over 151 ft (49m) high without its pedestal, the gift – a statue called Liberty Enlightening the World – commemorates the friendship of the peoples of France and the US.

French historian Edouard de Laboulaye suggested the idea at the endo of the American Civil War. Funds were raised from public donations in France and work began under the sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi. The bright beacon would also make a useful navigation aid.

Most notable historic snippets or facts extracted from the book ‘On This Day’ first published in 1992 by Octopus Publishing Group Ltd, London, as well as additional supplementary information extracted from Wikipedia.

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