In a previous post, we looked at how the Statue of Liberty a.k.a The Green Goddess, was “crowd funded” both in France and the United States. (She has many aliases, including Grande Dame, Mother of Exiles, Lady with a Torch, to name a few.) Following are a few of the inner secrets of “Everybody’s Gal.” In this post, the Statue of liberty a.k.a. the Green Goddess reveals her top ten secrets.
1. Her torch and tablet are inscribed with the date of the American Declaration of Independence: July 4, 1776.
2. Her shoe size: 879.
3. The Statue of Liberty’s working on it, but her waistline still measures 35 feet.
4. The Statue of Liberty has 25 windows in her crown with seven spikes that represent the seven oceans and seven continents.
5. Professor and politician Rene de Laboulaye who dreamed up the statue, hoped the gift would inspire the French people to fight for their own democracy in the face of a repressive monarchy under Napolean III.
6. Gustave Eiffel of Eiffel Tower fame helped design on Ms. Liberty’s spine: four iron columns supporting a metal framework that holds her 3/32ths of an inch copper skin.
7. It took 300 different types of hammers to create shape the Statue of Liberty’s copper structure.
8. The Statue of Liberty’s face was rumored to be inspired by the mother of the sculptor, Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi.
9. People estimate that the Statue of Liberty has been hit by as many as 600 bolts of lightning. (N.Y. Photographer Jay Fine finally captured the moment!)
10. After the Statue of Liberty’s long journey from Paris, the Statue of Liberty arrived in pieces – 350 of them!
Check out the Statue of Liberty’s Top Fifty Fascinating Facts here.
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