
On This Day… New York’s Oldest Artefact!
Written by: George Chittenden : 07 Jul 2019
It was on this day, 22nd February, back in 1881 when thousands of New Yorkers gathered to see Cleopatra’s Needle being assembled in Central Park. The 3,500-year-old obelisk from Ancient Egypt is New York’s oldest artefact. It is one of three, re-erected in London, Paris, and New York.
Interestingly, England were originally given their needle in 1801 as a gift for helping Egypt oust Napoleon. America’s needle and England’s needle are a pair and were originally erected by Thutmose III at Heliopolis in about 1,460 BC and were later moved to Alexandria. Transporting the obelisk to America was a huge task, as the largest item to sail in the hold of a ship at that point was a one-hundred-ton cannon, and the obelisk weighed nearly twice that!
Thankfully the month-long sea-journey from Alexandria was a success, and Cleopatra’s Needle arrived in America in July 1880. It then took a further five months to transport the artefact to Central Park.
Search
By Era
To 5000 BCE 5000 - 2000 BCE 2000 BCE - 0 0 - 400 CE 400 - 800 CE 800 - 1100 CE 1100 - 1500 CE 1500 - 1700 CE 18th Century 19th Century 1900's 1910's 1920's 1930's 1940's 1950's 1960's 1970's 1980's 1990's 2000's 2010'sBy Topic
Royal British Roman North American Egyptian Nautical European Social WW1 Military Viking Asian African Australian South American Political Celebrity WW2 ReligionWe promote history by...
offering free articles and videos, providing free history experiences for children in schools and on weekends. Next year we will be visiting hospitals and providing unforgettable experiences to children who really need it and give them a chance to forget their condition, their treatment and their reality.
Please join others who support our free projects by giving a small donation. We can only continue our great work with your help.