2. The Torch of the Statue of Liberty Arrived First

The hand and torch of the Statue of Liberty on display in Madison Square Park. Photo via New York Public Library.

As you may remember, the Statue of Liberty was split into pieces and packed into crates from Paris, where it was made by sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and Gustav Eiffel. Even before the rest of the statue arrived, the arm and torch were shipped by boat from Paris to New York City where it was displayed in Madison Square Park from 1876 to 1882 as a fundraising effort for the pedestal of the statue.

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