Statue of Liberty inaugurated in New York Harbor

On October 28, 1886, the Statue of Liberty was officially inaugurated in New York Harbor on Bedloe's Island, now known as Liberty Island. The monument was a gift from France to the United States to commemorate the centennial of American independence and to honor the friendship between the two nations.

Designed by sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi with an internal steel framework engineered by Gustave Eiffel, the statue stands 93 meters tall. Its official name is “Liberty Enlightening the World.” The monument features symbolic elements, including a torch representing enlightenment, a tablet inscribed with the date of the Declaration of Independence, and broken chains at its feet.

The project faced a ten-year delay due to construction and funding challenges. While France funded the sculpture, the United States was responsible for the pedestal. After fundraising efforts slowed, publisher Joseph Pulitzer encouraged small donations from the public to complete the base. The statue was constructed in France, disassembled into over 200 crates, and shipped to New York for reassembly.