AWESOME FACTS ABOUT EVERYTHING LXI

1. The West Point mint, built in 1937, is near the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y. As of 2019, it housed 22% of U.S. gold reserves - second only to Fort Knox in Kentucky. At one point it had the highest concentration of silver of any U.S. mint facility, and was nicknamed the Fort Knox of Silver. Today, the West Point mint is used for gold storage and minting commemorative coins.

2. The word NERD was coined by Dr. Seuss in his 1950 book, If I Ran the Zoo. The narrator states  he'll collect "a nerkle, a nerd, and a seersucker too" for the imaginary zoo in the story.

3. The full name of the Statue of Liberty is Liberty Enlightening the World. A gift from the people of France to the people of the United States, the statue was designed by French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi. The steel framework inside the statue was designed by the celebrated French engineer Gustave Eiffel. The statue was dedicated on October 28, 1886. She holds a torch above her head with her right hand, and in her left hand carries a tablet inscribed JULY 4, 1776 in Roman numerals, the date of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. A broken shackle and chain lie at her feet as she walks forward, commemorating the recent national abolition of slavery. After its dedication, the statue became an icon of freedom and of the United States, seen as a symbol of welcome to immigrants arriving by sea.