Does the Statue of Liberty get struck by lightning?

Yes! Although the Statue is grounded through the massive concrete and granite base she stands on; the Statue gets struck many times each year. Just how many is not known. The Statue's height and the conductive material she's made of, copper, makes it a structure of choice for lightning strikes.



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The Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World), a colossal sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, underwent an extensive conservation-restoration between 1984 and 1986, in advance of its centennial.

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July 30, 1916 Dynamite and explosives set for the British and French war effort were detonated. That statue suffered some minor damage (mostly to the right arm and torch) and closed for ten days. For public safety reasons, the torch balcony has been closed ever since.

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Statue of Liberty - a room inside the flame Yes, you read that right! There is a secret room here, which you unfortunately can't access. In 1916, the room in the torch had to be closed after an explosion (which was an act of sabotage committed by German agents during World War I).

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25 Facts to Celebrate the Statue of Liberty
  • The statue's full name is Liberty Enlightening the World.
  • It was a gift from France given to America in 1886.
  • The robed female figure represents Libertas, the Roman goddess of freedom.
  • The statue measures 93 meters and weighs 204 metric tons.


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With 31 tons of copper and 125 tons of steel, the scrap value of the Statue of Liberty comes in at $227,610, far below two of the most expensive statues in the world. But that's what happens when you use millions worth of gold and bronze.

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A trip up to the crown includes walking up a double-helix spiral staircase. The Statue's Crown can only be accessed by climbing 162 stairs. There is no elevator service to the Crown. The climb is strenuous.

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Visiting the crown of the Statue of Liberty is a rewarding activity. Due to its extreme popularity, tickets to the crown must be reserved prior to visiting. There are a limited number of crown tickets per day.

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According to Meteo France, the average house is struck by lightning once in every 800 years, whereas the Eiffel Tower is struck by lightning 10 times per year. As the tower is such a pronounced object it effectively acts as a giant lightning rod and is often struck by lightning.

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Did You Know?
  • The Statue of Liberty Is 151 Feet Tall (93 meters)
  • Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi Almost Made the Statue in Egypt.
  • Gustave Eiffel Assisted in the Construction of the Monument.
  • The Statue of Liberty Is Coated in Copper.
  • The Statue of Liberty Was Once a Lighthouse.
  • It Is Closer to New Jersey than New York.


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There are two genuine statues and several lesser versions of the Statue of Liberty. The original and most famous is the one located on Liberty Island, a gift from the French to America. The second is located in Paris, France, and was a reciprocal gift from the United States in 1889.

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An illustration of the presentation of the Statue to the U.S. Minister Levi Parsons Morton in Paris on July 4, 1881. The Statue of Liberty was a gift from the French people commemorating the alliance of France and the United States during the American Revolution.

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In April 2021, Landsberg's sculpture was installed in Harlem's Morningside Park. A little over a year later, the work moved to Liberty State Park in Jersey City, where it rested with its back to the Lower Manhattan skyline. Nearby, tourists boarded the ferry to the real Statue of Liberty.

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Tucked away underneath the 225-ton Lady lays a hidden box. Inside you'll find a copy of the U.S Constitution, a picture of Bartholdi, and 20 bronze medals. But why is it there? No one really knows the answer to this, but it may be a time capsule to commemorate the unveiling.

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Luckily, for the Statue of Liberty, there are quite a few options. Seeing Lady Liberty for free does mean only getting to take a photo of her. There's no free option for visiting Liberty Island and physically going inside the statue.

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A gift from the people of France, she has watched over New York Harbor since 1886, and on her base is a tablet inscribed with words penned by Emma Lazarus in 1883: Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

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The Statue of Liberty holds a torch and a tablet. The tablet has the date of the American Declaration of Independence inscribed in Roman numerals, JULY IV MDCCLXXVI.

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However, the sculptor, Frederic Bartholdi, decided that the original plan looked unnatural. He changed the arm to an angle that Berenson called a design flaw in the Statue of Liberty right from the start.

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