STATUE OF LIBERTY!

• The Statue of Liberty is located on Liberty Island, in the New York harbor, USA.
• The Statue of Liberty commemorates the American Declaration of Independence and was a gift from the people of France.
• The statue was assembled on its pedestal after being constructed in France and sent to the US in crates.
• It was dedicated on October 28, 1886.
• The Statue of Liberty was designed by French sculptor Frederic Bartholdi.
• The female form represented by the sculpture is based on Libertas, the Roman goddess of liberty. She holds a torch and a tabula ansata (tablet) that has the date of the American Declaration of Independence inscribed in it (July 4, 1776).
• A broken chain also lies at the feet of the statue which is hard to see from the ground.
• The official name of the Statue of Liberty is ‘Liberty Enlightening the World’.
• The statue has been closed for renovation a number of times, including between 1984 and 1986 when the torch and much of the internal structure was replaced.
• The Statue of Liberty stands 151 feet (46 metres) in height, and 305 feet (93 metres) from the ground to the torch.
• The head of the statue was displayed at the World's Fair in Paris, 1878.
• There was difficulty in the United States finding money to fund the project, especially after a financial crisis in 1873. A fundraising drive led by newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer was embraced by New Yorkers and helped push work forward. 80% of the donations were of less than $1.
• Liberty Island was previously called Bledloe's Island.
• There are replicas of the Statue of Liberty found in Paris, Las Vegas and many other cities around the world.