Celebrate America! United States Symbols

Symbols of America  American Flag  Statue of Liberty  Liberty Bell  Bald Eagle

American Flag Fun Facts May Betsy Ross sewed first American Flag 13 stars and stripes – 13 colonies Today: 7 red stripes, 6 white for original 13 colonies 50 stars: 1 for each state

American Flag

Happy Birthday America! July 4, 1884 – France gave U.S. a birthday gift: The Statue of Liberty! Engineer Gustave Eiffel Designed Liberty’s “spine.” Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi It took 21 years to create idea

Fun Facts  Height: 151 feet, 1 inch tall  Arm: 46 feet  Index Finger: 8 feet  Nose: 5 feet  300 sheets of coin-thin copper  354 steps, 25 windows of the crown  7 rays in crown to represent 7 seas  In the wind, statue sways 3 inches; torch sways 5 inches.

Paris, France The Statue of Liberty being built in Paris, France

Paris, France The head of the Statue of Liberty on display in a park in Paris, France.

Let Freedom Ring!  Cast in 1752 in London, England  Re-cast in 1753 in Philadelphia, PA  The Bell weighs 2080 pounds  70% Copper, 25% tin, and small amounts of lead, zinc, arsenic, gold and silver  First crack during testing, recast twice

Fun Facts  Rang at first public reading of the Declaration of Independence  Rang for George Washington’s Birthday and hours later it received fatal crack

Liberty Bell Crack: 24.5 inches long by ½ inch wide Height: 3 feet Width: 12 feet

Soaring with Pride

The Bald Eagle Great Seal of USA was adopted on June 20, 1782 Took 6 years to become the official National bird JFK: “The fierce beauty and proud independence of this great bird aptly symbolizes the strength and freedom of America.”

The National Bird Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey! 1789, Washington became 1 st president, the Bald Eagle became our Nation’s official bird

Fun Facts ONLY eagle found ONLY in North America Large and powerful  Males weigh between 7-10 pounds  Females weighing up to 14 pounds  Wingspan: 6 to 8 feet  Lay 2 or 3 eggs each year  Eggs hatch after 35 days  After 3 months, eaglets can fly  The white crown does not appear until 4 or 5 years  Live 30 years

Protecting the Bald Eagle National Emblem Act of 1940 protects the Bald Eagle along with the Endangered Species Act

Sesame Street Sesame Street

Bald Eagle