Liberty's Cornerstone Laid: A Beacon Takes Shape
France and Britain celebrate the laying of the cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty on Bedloe's Island, setting the physical foundation for a global symbol of freedom. This act immediately launched a transatlantic fundraising campaign that secured the massive pedestal needed to house Bartholdi's copper masterpiece before its 1886 dedication.
August 5, 1884
142 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on August 5
Guangwu claimed the imperial throne and restored the Han dynasty after the chaotic collapse of Wang Mang's short-lived Xin regime. His military campaigns reunif…
Roman soldiers extinguished the fires still burning from the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD, five days after Titus's legions breached th…
Penda of Mercia crushed the Northumbrian forces at the Battle of Maserfield, killing King Oswald and dismembering his body as a gruesome display of pagan domina…
The allied armies of Mercia and Wessex, led by King Edward the Elder and Earl Aethelred, destroyed the last major Danish raiding force to invade England at Tett…
Ramiro II of León clashes with the forces of Caliph Abd al-Rahman III at Zamora during the Spanish Reconquista. The Battle of Alhandic ended in a Cordoban victo…
Robert Guiscard’s Norman forces encircled Bari, initiating a grueling three-year siege that signaled the end of Byzantine authority in Southern Italy. By starvi…
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