Perhaps the most seen monument in history, millions upon millions of people have passed through Ellis Island on ships. But the first thing they always saw was the Statue of Liberty. Originally a gold color, the green patina caused bu oxidation gave the building its infamous color. Still even though the Statue has little to offer to New Yorkers today, it is still jewel to behold. While the crown was shut off to visitors, and people don't come immigrate on ships as frequently the Statue is still one of the most visited sites in the city. But maybe here's something you didn't know of our great French gift:
Officially titled "Liberty Lighting the World", the statue was a gift from France commemorating liberty and friendship with the United States of America.
The statue is supported inside by an innovative metal framework designed by Gustave Eiffel, the designer of the Tour Eiffel.
The statue welcomes visitors and immigrants arriving in New York by boat, many of them crossing the Atlantic and seeing America for the first time.
The seven spikes on the crown represent the seven continents and seven seas of the world.
The climb from the ground to the tower's crown is 354 steps.
The base is 65 feet tall, the pedestal is 89 feet tall, and the statue itself is 151 feet and one inch to the tip of the torch.
Some of the statue's proportions: her right arm is 42 feet long; the nose measures 4.5 feet to the tip; the mouth is 3 feet wide; and her index finger is 3 feet long.
The star-shaped base was originally built as the ramparts of Fort Wood in the War of 1812.
The statue inspired the sonnet "New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus in 1883, in which the statue is ascribed the famous words, "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free...".
The torch’s flame was originally fashioned from gilded solid copper until being pierced and internally illuminated.
The external skin is sculpted from around three hundred 0.2 centimetre (0.09 inch) thick hand-hammered copper plates which are fixed to an internal diagonally braced iron frame. The copper skin weighs around 91 tonnes.
The statue was closed to the public after the terrorist attack on New York on September 11, 2001 and opened again in August 2004.
Lady Liberty's "tablet" is 23 feet, 7 inches long, 13 feet, 7 inches wide, and 2 feet thick.
There are 25 windows in the crown.
After it was constructed in Paris, the statue was disassembled into 350 pieces and shipped to New York, where it took another four months to reässemble.
Due to security concerns, visitors are no longer able to climb to the crown or the torch.
It has been in countless pictures, movie posters, tv shows, panoramas, and just viewings. It has seen its head severed and saw the Twins fall. It has laughed and cried, and is a testament to ingenuity and most importantly liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
"We're coming to the edge Running on the water Coming through the fog Your sons and daughters let the river run Let all the dreamers Wake the nation." - Let The River Run