Tourists Aren’t Allowed in This Part of the Statue of Liberty 🗽 Searching for Secrets | Smithsonian
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- čas přidán 3. 07. 2024
- Why is no one allowed on the viewing platform of the Statue of Liberty’s famous torch? For the answer, you have to travel all the way back to 1916-and an explosion so violent it registered on the Richter scale.
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I remember asking my Dad as a kid about the torch. He just said it was closed when he was a kid. He was born in 35!
My dad was born 1910 and my younger brother, 1962. My dad used to say everybody should throw a cinder block in the water and we can walk to the Island of the Statue of Liberty. And it's true. Everyday of my life we saw the Statue of Liberty cause we live behind her. The truth is they have some mean repairs to make but the torch has finally been re-lit, lighting up the NY Harbor. It's cool to see, at night !
Sorry but they closed access to the torch in 1916
He's wrong, it was closed after the Black Tom incident in 1916
@@4rumani Who was wrong?
That is Legitimately Fascinating.
I learned about this when I was little on my first trip to Liberty Island. My great grandfather used to be the lighthouse keeper there so my dad told me stories of how my grandmother used to eat her lunch up in the torch as a kid, but how people couldn’t go in there anymore cause it had been damaged. We went on a tour at the island and they explained the explosion and everything too. It’s pretty crazy.
I don’t remember if my grandma used to eat on the current torch, or the one that is currently inside the statue base on display though.
That's really cool - so your grand dad must've lived somewhere around here, where I live on the Jersey side. Many streets are named after people involved with the Statue of Liberty, like Bartholdi, and many of those people are buried in the cemetery on the waterfront on the Jersey side. It's an extremely historical area.
The original reason the arm was closed was that during construction, it was attached wrong & there were several copper plates left over. The shipping crates were poorly marked & in French. The statue's overall parts also deformed slightly from sitting for so long before assembly.
This was many years before the explosion 🗽
🌌🔭
Great upload🕊
I did know that the reason was that the arm wasn't considered strong enough to support the weight of tourists any longer, but I did not know that was because it was damaged by a terrorist attack. I had thought when I was younger that the torch would reopen following the renovations that included regilding the torch, but it never did.
According to my dad, my uncle wandered off when their family were climbing up the statue once they cleared the first staircase. My dad says my uncle saw some construction signs but the entrance to get to the torch was open, however the lights were off. My uncle climbed up as much as he could until he literally couldn't see and turned back. If this story is true imagine if my uncle brought a flashlight with him.
I did not know this! Great episode!
I knew about the viewing platform in the torch. Never gave much thought of whether it was open to the public or not. I also thought the Statue of Liberty was a former lighthouse I never heard of the terrorist attack of 1916; now I know.
Well I’ll be darned! Born and raised in New York City, we had a field trip (8th grade) to the Statue of Liberty and we were only allowed to climb up to the crown. We were told that it was being repaired. Never knew about the back story. That was over 50 years ago! Thank you Smithsonian Channel for the lesson!
Never heard of this before
The way to get to the torch was via a steep ladder, not a winding stairway that is used to get to the crown. I have read that the arm was damaged during the blast, but was repaired and the blast was used as an excuse to close the arm to the public. I have been in the stature several times and remember seeing the platform and door that opens to the arm on the way down from the crown at about her shoulder level. The spiral stairs to the crown are narrow and steep and fairly open to the inside. Anyone with vertigo would have a hard time!
I never knew about that. I'm really surprised.
This is the first time I know about this incident
i must have missed this part in history class...
There's an Easter egg in the first X-Men movie that highlights this weakening of the Statue of Liberty's torch arm in the fight scene in TSOL when Wolverine cuts into it during the fight.
Even though I heard the story, I still used to think it was because they did not want anyone to attempt suicide from the torch. 😿😞
Thank you for a informative video, I've seen couple other videos that talk about it and never actually say why it was closed off.
When you view the ladder to the torch en route to the crown, it's amazing that anyone was ever allowed up!
Good keep people out..I haven't seen it yet..it's a bucket list item..HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!🎉🎊💥🎉🎊🎈
Visiting in 2 weeks time can't wait
This is a part of history that I never heard about in school!
I've been in the crown. I don't know if it's open now. Tight space, wonderful view.
Zabar10 beautiful vlog
Bellissimo!
Actually William Gaines’ (of MAD Magazine fame) girl friend and good friend went up there as tourists. Gaines himself couldn’t fit!
I don't get why they called it a terrorist attack when it was literally during a world war. Everyone was doing horrible stuff to each other; it wasn't just out of the blue.
In 1916 the US was still officially neutral. We didn't enter the war until the next year, a decision which was partially driven by the public outrage caused by this attack. Because the US was not yet at war, and because this was a covert attack carried out by spies, it could be termed a terrorist attack.
@@Shinekaze Oh ok, my bad. Thanks for letting me know.
Enjoyed the video and I gave it a Thumbs Up
Looking at the thumbnail and length of the video: "Thats lit"
Very interesting. I had another idea why people weren't allowed up there . But I was way off base. Amazing to learn about it goes back to world war one.
AMERICA! 🇺🇸 🗽
They should totally fix it because climbing to the torch is on my bucket list now
i would imagine it like the 2020 beirut port blast
this news to me
Everyone claims it’s because of the bombing, but the statue has been refurbished since then. Insurance and the method of accessing the torch are the real reasons today.
I don’t understand why they couldn’t just fix properly to make it safe like that explosion happened over 100 years ago that’s plenty of time to make it safe to the public especially with technology nowadays
Wow.
Hello from Ukraine
Thank you for sharing this information. Love and respect to United States of America from INDIA.
How has no one skirted the rules and went up there
" God Bless America "
It couldn't be fixed until now??
Well I suggest that they fixed it
No one been up the torch since 1916, so who replaced the original glass torch in the 80s or 90s when ever it got replaced?
thats where magnito put this machine
I was expecting some guy and a camera man to climb inside the statue
I could have done with a lot less split screens and stock footage and a lot more of seeing the closed entrance and details of the arm and torch. People are allowed up there, recall Will Smith in the first Men in Black
I don't remember anything in the movie happening at the Statue of Liberty.
CGI big dog CGI
بالتوفيق والنجاح الدائم مسيرة موفقة 👍🌹🙏
🗽
Must have been like the Beirut one.
Or the explosion in Halifax harbor, Nova Scotia.
This was so interesting. I never knew this.
too many people would jump from it
So since 1916 we haven’t thought to reenforce it or just straight out rebuild it? That’s an amazing view to take away!
No..have u ever seen any pics or videos of the maintenance guy going up the 40 foot iron ladder that goes to the torch? It’s one way up and one way down and is very narrow and dangerous..imagine 4 or 5 ppl climbing that ladder at once…someone freezes on the ladder or slips and falls it’s very dangerous…plus the arm is the weakest part of the statue…they could never open that to tourists it’s too much of a safety hazard
@@Mjbentertainment86 they could build a safe access to it. With all the engineering marvels have today I’m sure we could figure out how to reinforce the torch and make a multi person access
@@Wickedreptiles how? The arm is mad small…there’s no way to make a safe entrance AND exit
@@Mjbentertainment86 you would have to construct a structure around the statue itself with part of that structure wrapping around the torch then the just cut a hole into the side and start making it larger or making it safe for a few people at a time to go up there. The iron ladder can be done away with and a enclosed staircase built. It most definitely could be done. It might now be cheap but it could be done.
@@Wickedreptiles I wholeheartedly disagree 🤷🏻♂️
This is simultaneously too much and not enough...
But Magneto was there
It's a shame they can't reinforce it. I always wanted to go up thee
Hey what'd the Kaiser ever do to ya'll?
I have just recorded this episode on Sky and trying to watch it. The talking is so quiet and and most of the time drowned out by the sound effects. I'm missing most of the detail even with the sound turned up because that turns up the background noise as well. It's such a pity because the programme looks very interesting. Also what are the great lumps of rock called? To me it sounds as if she is saying great lumps of 'sh*t', maybe that is what she's saying, lol.
Is there any footage of at least one light weight person going up the arm and to the torch, lol? Can a drone fly up there?
It's not that the torch can't hold the weight of one person, you have to consider the weight of all the people lining up on the stairs inside the arm. Obviously, crews go up the arm, as they did when the torch was regilded and the lightbulbs do need to be replaced every so often. But the weight of a few workers is not significant, compared to the weight of dozens of tourists climbing the stairs inside the arm at once.
@@gcvrsa Well, yea, I understand the heavy weight of many, that's why I wondered if just one someone went up. And if there is any footage of the stairs and view from the torch.
@@pinkfreud62 there is a video or 2 where a maintenance worker called the flame keeper goes up there to work on the torch..there’s no stairs it’s a 40 foot iron ladder that is very narrow and dangerous…u could not have multiple ppl climbing that ladder…there’s also pics on Google of that ladder…there’s no way they would let tourists climb that with the possibility of freezing up or slipping and falling onto the ppl behind them
Yanka is targeting the arms depot. (Yes I have a strange sense of humor 😂)
I don't get it? They couldn't fix it and make it safe until now ??
With laws today no. As it also would be a fire trap as the stairs too narrow and steep winding upwards
Ghostbusters 2
Only Michael Jackson
Maybe Germany should PAY for this. Oh yea, they already did. Twice. lol.
Is it a terrorist attack if it is a legitimate war target during wartime? Sabatoge sure, but terrorism?
They supplied the German aswell, yanks choose to forget that.
They choose to forget it because I doubt you can supply a concrete example of what we supplied to the Germans in World War I. I'll wait.
Nobody chooses to forget that its literally taught in our history classes. Its just simply not very important, countries supply their enemies often, as enemies may have once been friends.
It should b repaired or redone just because if it is damaged it will some day fall off and hurt someone or so.ething. irresponsible to just leave it because some day it will fall off then what???
🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Keep it up, Bring back World wars and Air Crash Investigate clips..
4:20 long 😉
Interesting video, but at 1:55, claiming that the German's blowing up a military ammunition stockpile during a war was 'terrorism' shows a complete lack of understanding of the word.
Its a gift from France - we should send it back 😂
I volunteer as tribute to test its integrity as back then MEN were Welding
420 😆 oh man!!! 👀
Finally some real history on the Smithsonian channel. Too bad NYC is in ridiculous lockdowns and mandates right now, no reason to ever visit that place again.
Lie Michael jackson did!!
I had read it was because it has a regular ladder 🪜 inside instead of stairs.