1924: Under authority of the Antiquities Act, President Calvin Coolidge declares the Statue of Liberty a national monument. The idea for the statue began in 1865 when Edouard de Laboulaye, a French intellectual, proposed construction of the statue as a gift from France to the United States for its centennial in 1876. By 1876, the hand holding a torch was completed and sent to the U.S. where it was displayed at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. From Philadelphia, it was on display in New York City until 1882. The completed Statue of Liberty was dedicated on Oct. 28, 1886. One million New Yorkers turned out for the dedication.