Fun trivia about The Statue of Liberty

I lived in Topeka, Kansas in 1966 when we had an F-5 tornado come through several areas of the city. It got some houses around the capitol and pulled off a few sheets of the green copper on top of the capitol building dome. They replaced the sheets with new copper and it was patched up with copper on the green dome. I wondered how long it would take for them to match the rest of the dome.

I did not know that!

It reminds me of those statues (yet I think they are bronze) that stay gold and shiny in some places because people rub them. Maybe this removes corrosion and skin oils act like varnish?

It was known that that would happen. It is called a patina. Oxidized copper is much stronger than regular copper and protects the statue. Oxidized aluminum is extremely strong but does not change colour as dramatically as copper. Now you know.

Ha... I didn't think anybody else was aware of that ..

does that mean it was around the time of 1916 she started drinking shamrock shakes? 🤭...she's still a beauty though 🙂

Exactly what they French knew would happen. They used copper for both the Statue of Liberty and for roofs of buildings like churches and palaces. The copper was valued for its ability to weather and develop a blue-green patina.

Another fun trivia fact about The Statue of Liberty is that the first one made in France actually fell off the floating barge it was being transport in as it entered New York Harbor.

It sunk to the bottom of the harbor and another Statue of Liberty had to be made in France to replace the one that fell off the barge. That original statue is still sitting at the bottom of New York Harbor but poses no threat to sea navigation.

Britain wasn't bothered 😕