---
title: "Which came first, the car or the Statue of Liberty?"
description: "the car and the Statue of Liberty both date from 1886. What happened in each case, and why the dates are often given differently."
url: https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/car-vs-statue-of-liberty/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Which came first, the car or the Statue of Liberty?

**Which came first, the car or the Statue of Liberty?: Both the same year**

Both 1886

Both arrived in 1886. Karl Benz patented the Motorwagen. The statue was dedicated in New York Harbor.

## Side by side

|  | the car | the Statue of Liberty |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Year | 1886 | 1886 |
| Date | 1886-01-29 | 1886-10-28 |
| Category | invention | landmark |
| What happened | Karl Benz patented the Motorwagen. | The statue was dedicated in New York Harbor. |

## the car

Benz's patent of 29 January 1886 is the usual date for the first practical petrol car. The vehicle's commercial breakthrough came from his wife: in 1888 Bertha Benz drove 106 km to Pforzheim without telling him, fixing the fuel line with a hatpin and the ignition with a garter on the way, and the resulting publicity sold the machine. Ford did not exist until 1903 and the Model T not until 1908.

## the Statue of Liberty

Dedicated in October 1886, the statue predates the Eiffel Tower by two and a half years — and its internal iron framework was designed by Gustave Eiffel, who went on to use what he learned on the tower. It arrived from France in 214 crates and the American side had to raise the money for the pedestal by public subscription, which nearly failed. The copper skin is about 2.4 mm thick, roughly the thickness of two pennies.

## Common questions

### Which came first, the car or the Statue of Liberty?

Both date from 1886.

### When did the car start?

1886. Karl Benz patented the Motorwagen.

### When did the Statue of Liberty start?

1886. The statue was dedicated in New York Harbor.

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## Sources

- Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History — Smithsonian Institution (https://naturalhistory.si.edu/)
- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation (https://www.wikidata.org/) [CC0 1.0]