Beijing, the Statue of Liberty and St. Louis Arch Have What in Common?

Beijing, the Statue of Liberty and St. Louis Arch Have What in Common?

By Michelle Carr Crowe, Silicon Valley REALTOR®

Do you know what Beijing, the Statue of Liberty and St. Louis Arch have in common? All three share an important anniversary on October 28^th.

Here are details on the notable anniversaries for Beijing, the Statue of Liberty and the St. Louis Arch, along with a few other notable things that occurred on October 28^th.

1420 – Beijing is officially designated as the capital of the Ming Dynasty. In this same year the Forbidden City, the seat of government, is completed.

1538 –Universidad Santo Tomás de Aquino, the first university in the New World, is established.

1886 – In New York Harbor, President Grover Cleveland officially dedicates the Statue of Liberty.

The statue was designed by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi as a gift to the United States from the people of France. The robed female represents Libertas, the Roman goddess of freedom, who bears a torch to light the way, and a tablet inscribed the date of America’s Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776.

The French financed the statue and shipping, while Americans provided the site and financed the pedestal, assembly and installation. Prior to completion, parts of the statue, including the head and the arm, were exhibited to generate publicity and financial support at international expositions, such as the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, in 1876, and in New York's Madison Square Park from 1876 to 1882.

Financing to complete the project proved difficult, even so. Publisher Joseph Pulitzer of the New York World finally initiated a drive for donations. Children famously donated and collected precious pennies for the cause. Of the 120,000 contributors, most gave less than one dollar.

The dedication celebrations included New York's first ticker-tape parade and a dedication ceremony presided over by President Grover Cleveland.

1965 – Construction on the St. Louis Arch in St. Louis, Missouri, is completed. Known as the Gateway Arch, the 630-foot stainless steel monument is reportedly the tallest man-made monument in the United States. Missouri's tallest accessible building, and the world's tallest arch.

The St. Louis Gateway Arch has recently been purchased by McDonald's for use as a new logo.

2007 – Cristina Fernández de Kirchner becomes the first woman elected President of Argentina.

2009 – NASA successfully launches the Ares I-X mission, the only rocket launch for its later-cancelled Constellation program

 While these interesting facts aboutBeijing, the Statue of Liberty and the St. Louis Arch on October 28^thhave nothing to do with my real estate business selling homes to families in San Jose, Cupertino and Saratoga in Silicon Valley, Calif., they do add fun to life.

For more fun facts and information on Silicon Valley real estate, homes and careers, subscribe for free to Michelle Carr-Crowe’s blog at http://www.activerain.com/results 

Images courtesy of Michelle Carr-Crowe’s private collection, the public domain, the U.S. government or www.freedigitalphotos.net.Facts compiled from Wikipedia, Smithsonian, HistoryOrb and MentalFloss among other sources.

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