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Statue of Liberty Fast Facts

By CNN

(CNN) — Here’s a look at the Statue of Liberty, located on Liberty Island in New York Harbor.

Facts

The Statue of Liberty was a gift to the United States from the people of France to commemorate 100 years of Franco-American friendship. The statue also commemorates the centennial of America’s independence.

The statue was formally known as “Liberty Enlightening the World.”

It was sculpted by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi. The framework was designed by French engineer Gustave Eiffel.

There are 377 steps to the crown from the ground.

There are 25 windows in the crown.

The seven rays of the statue’s crown represent the seven seas and continents of the world.

The tablet held in the left hand of the statue reads in Roman numerals “July 4th, 1776.” (JULY IV MDCCLXXVI)

The weight of copper in the statue is about 176,000 pounds (88 tons). Total weight of the statue’s concrete foundation is 54 million pounds (27,000 tons).

Height from ground to tip of torch – 305 feet, one inch (92.99m)

Visitors undergo airport-style security screenings prior to boarding the ferry. A secondary screening is required for visitors entering the monument.

The waters around Liberty Island are a restricted water zone.

US Park Police provide security for visitor ferries to Liberty Island.

Timeline

1865 – French historian and professor Edouard de Laboulaye proposes the idea of presenting the United States with a monument to commemorate the young country’s upcoming centennial.

Early 1870s – Sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi travels to the United States to drum up support for the project.

November 1875 – The Franco-American Union forms to raise funds and carry out the project. It is decided that France will build the statue and the United States will build the pedestal upon which the statue will stand.

1875-1882 – French citizens are enthusiastic about the project and raise approximately $250,000 through fundraisers and lotteries. The French government does not contribute to the building of the statue.

1876 – The completed torch and the right forearm of the statue are displayed in Philadelphia and New York to encourage donations.

1883-1885 – Publisher Joseph Pulitzer champions the project in the pages of his New York World newspaper and Americans grow enthusiastic about the statue.

1883 – Poet Emma Lazarus writes the sonnet, “The New Colossus” to raise money for the pedestal. It ends with lines added to the base of the statue in 1903: “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” It becomes a symbol of welcome for immigrants.

July 1884 – The statue is completed in France.

June 1885 – The statue arrives in New York Harbor aboard the French ship “Isere.”

April 1886 – The pedestal is completed.

October 28, 1886 – President Grover Cleveland dedicates the Statue of Liberty.

October 15, 1924 – The statue is designated a national monument.

1933 – The National Park Service head the administration of the statue.

1984 – The United Nations designates the Statue of Liberty a World Heritage Site.

July 4, 1986 – The Statue of Liberty celebrates its centennial.

September 11, 2001 – Liberty Island is closed to the public following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

December 2001 – Liberty Island reopens after 100 days, but the statue remains closed.

September 2003 – The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation Inc. begins a fundraising drive with the goal of raising $5 million dollars to build additional exits and upgrade fire and emergency systems.

August 3, 2004 – The base of the statue reopens to the public after $20 million worth of safety measures are implemented.

July 4, 2009 – The crown of the Statue of Liberty is reopened to visitors.

October 28, 2011 – The Statue of Liberty celebrates its 125th anniversary.

October 29, 2011 – The Statue of Liberty closes for renovations.

October 28, 2012 – On the 126th anniversary of the statue’s dedication, the Statue of Liberty reopens.

October 29, 2012 – The Statue of Liberty closes due to Hurricane Sandy.

November 21, 2012 – The National Park Service announces that due to significant damage sustained from Hurricane Sandy, the Statue of Liberty will remain closed.

July 4, 2013 – The statue officially reopens with a ribbon cutting ceremony.

October 13, 2013 – After being closed for 12 days as a result of the partial government shutdown, the Statue of Liberty reopens thanks to state funding.

July 4, 2018 – A woman climbs up to the robes of the Statue of Liberty to protest the separation of migrant families. The standoff lasts nearly three hours before authorities talk the woman down.

May 16, 2019 – The Statue of Liberty Museum opens to the public. The museum is managed by the National Park Service.

March 16, 2020 – The National Park Service temporarily suspends operations at the Statue of Liberty in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

July 14, 2021 – A second Statue of Liberty, nicknamed the “little sister,” arrives at the US capitol. It has stood on display at the National Museum of Arts and Crafts in Paris for a decade and will now stay in Washington, DC, for 10 years. The “little sister” is an exact replica of the original 1878 plaster model, but one-sixteenth the size.

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The debate over Jason Arday’s life continues – just as viciously – despite his death at 41

By CNN
(CNN) — Jason Arday, the youngest black professor in the University of Cambridge’s 817-year history, is dead. But the intense public debate over his life and work, and what it means for a society grappling with multiculturalism, is continuing - perhaps even more furiously.Arday’s death, on Friday aged 41, followed mounting pressure from the UK and international media probing every aspect of his life. The questioning spanned everything from his academic record, to claims he was mute until he was 11 and even his athleticism following his claim that he once ran 30 marathons in 35 days.His family blames a “campaign of sustained abuse” - one they say began the day he was appointed as a professor at Cambridge in February 2023 - for his death. They suggested those angered by suggestions his was a case of over-promotion “would leave no stone unturned in their quest to undermine him.”Others have gone further, calling the unrelenting interest in Arday “a pernicious public shaming” (London Mayor Sadiq Khan) and “a racist witch hunt” (Weyman Bennett, of Stand Up to Racism).Arday’s story has dominated headlines, with coverage spanning the political spectrum - and leaders from Prime Minister Andy Burnham down pressed for their opinions.Burnham, who has been in the top job for less than a month, said Arday’s death was “a tragedy on so many levels” and called for a “moment for reflection.”That moment has yet to come.The debate over Arday’s life and career, and what it means for society is continuing – just as ferociously if not more so – despite his death.Julia Hartley-Brewer, a presenter on TalkTV, an online channel owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News UK, on Saturday said: “The only person responsible for Jason Arday’s death is Jason Arday.”“He was a liar and a fraud who was rightly exposed for what he really was by academics and journalists who were simply doing their job,” she added.“This isn’t about right and left. It’s about right and wrong,” she said on X, less than 24 hours after his death was announced by the police, who said it was “unexpected but not suspicious.”The UK’s Spectator magazine, a right-leaning weekly, on Sunday said Arday was “both built up and destroyed by the ruthless machinery of DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion).”“No one can deny it now: wokeness makes false gods and real tragedies,” its columnist Brendan O’Neill wrote.On the other side, Arday’s friends and supporters are calling on Burnham to commission a public inquiry into the role of the press in Arday’s death.“Enough is enough,” they said in a public letter that had attracted more than 34,000 signatures by Sunday afternoon.“There cannot be any doubt that Dr. Arday’s tragic death was the direct, foreseeable and foreseen result of press harassment. A significant element in that harassment was the colour of his skin. Self-regulation of the press has comprehensively failed.”How Jason Arday became a DEI “lightning rod”Arday, who leaves behind two children, was appointed professor of sociology of education at Cambridge on February 23, 2023 at the relatively young age of 37.The university’s press release at the time described him as a “renowned sociologist,” and said his appointment was “the latest chapter in a remarkable academic career, which began after he overcame illiteracy in his late teens.”The release described a boy diagnosed with a form of autism spectrum disorder at the age of three, and who was “unable to speak until he was 11, or to read or write until he was 18.”The university also pointed out he was “the youngest Black person ever appointed to a professorship at Cambridge,” and he intended to use that platform to “inspire more people from under-represented backgrounds into higher education.” At the time there were only five other black professors at Cambridge, and still just 1% of all professors in the UK are Black, according to the Society for Research into Higher Education.But his appointment also lit a fire among a group of academics - and others - who believe Cambridge and other universities and public bodies are striving too hard to increase their diversity.They alleged that Arday’s race played an outsized role in his appointment ahead of other leading international figures.Questions were raised about Arday’s research work. Nathan Cofnas, then a fellow Cambridge academic and self-defined “race realist,” published a Substack post claiming Arday had plagiarized a peer in his 2015 PhD thesis.Liverpool John Moores University, where Arday was awarded his PhD, found he made “honest and reasonable” errors, and dismissed the allegations of plagiarism. Arday admitted making citation errors and apologized, but denied lying.Cofnas went on national radio to describe Arday’s appointment as “DEI ideology” and claimed Arday was “not smart” like other Cambridge professors. Cofnas has published research claiming that race is linked to intelligence and that “under a colour-blind system” black people “would disappear from almost all high-profile positions outside of sports and entertainment.” Cofnas was sacked by Cambridge in the wake of controversy caused by his comments.Interest in Arday only grew. There have been more than 200 UK national newspaper articles about Arday in print over the past year, and hundreds more online. The Times of London alone has published more than 60 articles, according to NLA Clipshare.The case has also received widespread coverage in the US – including on CNN – where Trump has been assaulting DEI policies.Mounting scrutinyMedia interest expanded from questions about his academic record to claims he had run 600 miles in six days for charity; whether he had lied about being on a TV documentary series that aired decades before he was born; whether he was really mute as child; and his claim that a pig’s head had been sent to his home.Early in August, Arday resigned from his position at Cambridge saying “the relentless accusations, speculation and public commentary have taken a profound toll on me and on those I love.”Cambridge University launched an investigation into his appointment after “new information” emerged about his academic qualifications and honorary appointments.Cambridge’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Deborah Prentice said the university was “desperately saddened” to learn of Arday’s death.However, the university is facing questions about why it did not act sooner to investigate the claims, and whether it provided enough support to an academic experiencing such relentless public scrutiny.For months the university has been briefing journalists that its appointment system is rigorous and defendable, and that the campaign was targeted against a Black academic because of his race.A university spokesperson said: “Throughout his time at Cambridge, Jason received a range of support in relation to both his mental and physical wellbeing. This included the provision of counselling, advice, and security measures. Our support continued in the face of intense public and media scrutiny and after his resignation.”While Arday’s supporters have acknowledged there have been legitimate questions over his academic career, they see a press campaign blown out of proportion with tragic consequences.Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said Arday had been subjected to “a public and brutal takedown that unleashed a tirade of racism.”“I don’t believe this was ever simply about ‘professional conduct’ or ‘plagiarism’,” he said. “There is a profound difference between scrutiny and a sustained public campaign that turns an individual into a symbol of everything the right believes is wrong with DEI.”Professor Sir Simon Baron-Cohen, director of the University of Cambridge’s Autism Research Centre and a close friend of Arday, said “Jason was a kind and gentle” man who had been “used almost like a lightning rod to examine this policy of DEI.”“In the last 10 days, I’ve witnessed his mental health getting worse and worse, as the media didn’t stop ridiculing him, humiliating him, discrediting him,” he told the BBC. “He was being subjected to relentless scrutiny, including ridicule, discrediting absolutely every detail of his life, and he wasn’t coping with the loss of his career, the loss of his reputation, and he felt he couldn’t go on.”The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
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