Statue of Liberty Dedication: Freedom Welcomes the World
The Statue of Liberty arrived in New York Harbor as a gift from France, its 350 copper pieces packed into 214 crates after years of fundraising on both sides of the Atlantic. Dedicated in 1886, the robed figure of Libertas became the first sight for millions of immigrants entering America and the most recognizable symbol of freedom in the world.
June 17, 1885
141 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on June 17
A pope was arrested for refusing to say Christ had only one will. That was the crime. Martin I had convened the Lateran Council in 648, gathering 105 bishops to…
King Louis IX ordered the public incineration of twenty-four carriage loads of Talmudic manuscripts in Paris, following a rigged trial against Jewish scholars. …
Finland's most important medieval church almost didn't happen in Turku at all. Bishop Magnus I had been working for decades to establish a permanent cathedral f…
One woman ruled three kingdoms without ever holding the title of queen. Margaret I engineered the Kalmar Union in 1397, binding Denmark, Norway, and Sweden unde…
Vlad III rode straight into the Ottoman camp with 7,000 men at night, hunting one specific person: Mehmed II, the conqueror of Constantinople. He got close. Not…
King Henry VII’s royal army crushed the Cornish rebels at Deptford Bridge, ending their march on London. By dismantling this tax-driven uprising, the King secur…
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