"I can see my house from here!" (Photo by Ludovic Bertron) On July 4th, just in time to celebrate the Independence Day weekend, the Statue of Liberty will be re-opening her arms to tourists seeking to ascend the 354 narrow steps (154 from pedestal to crown) to view the New York Harbor area from the top of her head. After nearly eight years of security-related closure (due to the events of September 11th, 2001), Lady Liberty will once again welcome visitors to the upper elevations of her copper-clad physique. Ever since her dedication in 1886, the monument standing guard over the New York City area has symbolized democracy and friendship, and she remains a quintessential American icon. As a gift from France to commemorate the centennial of the American Revolution in 1876, she arrived a fashionable decade late, but it's the thought that counts, right? Her creators, sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi and structural engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel (yes, that Eiffel), wanted to ensure her artistic and ever-lasting perfection, befitting what was to become a National Monument and a United Nations World Heritage Site. To return the favor to the French, Americans living in France dedicated a smaller replica of the statue in 1889. It resides in Paris on Île des Cygnes. While this holiday weekend may be one of the more exciting times to (re)visit the Statue of Liberty, the crown tour plan appears to be permanent. The tours will be ranger-led and allow only 10 people every 20 minutes. It is highly recommended that you visit the National Park Service web site to make your reservations for Liberty Island and Crown tour tickets, as this new-again opportunity to experience a global icon of freedom is expected to be quite popular. After all, not many can pass up the patriotic photo op. Have a happy and safe Fourth of July weekend! Suggested Sites... YouTube: Exclusive Tour of Lady Liberty - join Rep. Anthony Weiner in a trip up the spiral steps to the crown observation deck. The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc. - fun facts about the Statue of Liberty. Free Printable Coloring Pages - color in your very own Statue of Liberty. Wikipedia: Emma Lazarus - biography of the woman whose sonnet is engraved in the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. "The New Colossus" - the poem itself.

Directory categories: Statue of Liberty, National Park Service, National Monuments, Fourth of July, U.S. Declaration of Independence

Archived under: 19th Century, 4th of July, 9/11, American History, Architecture, France, Holidays, Immigration, Museums, New York, Parks, Recreation and Travel, Tourist Attractions, Travel, United States

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Adams, Jefferson, and others sign the Declaration with John Hancock Of all the Founding Fathers, the two most important may have been John Adams and Thomas Jefferson -- the former being one of the strongest voices for independence, the latter being the primary author of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson and Adams had much in common. Both were lawyers, both served as American diplomats, and both were (obviously) vice president and president. But perhaps the weirdest thing they have in common is that they both died on this date in 1826, exactly 50 years after the ratification of the Declaration. Now, we've made no secret of how much we love coincidence, but this seems less coincidental and more like the final chapter completing their mythic lives. Adams and Jefferson were allied in Philadelphia, but politics and other circumstances -- such as Adams' prickly personality -- forced them apart, and they became bitter rivals. Despite their personal enmity, fellow Founder Benjamin Rush eventually reconciled them in 1812. The former presidents didn't meet in person during their rekindled friendship, but their letters are intimate and probe deep philosophical questions while touching on world events, literature, and science. By 1826, Adams (aged 90) and Jefferson (83) were in reasonable health for their ages, though Adams suffered from rheumatism, and Jefferson had chronic bowel and back problems. Whether intentionally or not, they both managed to hold on for the 50th anniversary of Independence. Jefferson fell into a coma on July 2, rallied on the 3rd long enough to ask, "is it the Fourth?" and died at 12:50 the next afternoon. Adams lasted a few more hours before succumbing to old age. Before he died, though, his last words were reputed to be "Thomas Jefferson survives." Though it's been more than 180 years since Adams and Jefferson died, their legacy does, indeed, survive. Suggested Sites... "Jefferson Still Survives" - a historian examines whether Adams' alleged last words were indeed spoken. The Adams-Jefferson Letters - introduction to the book, with a good overview of the men's relationship. Early America: Obituary of John Adams - reproductions of period obits. You Tube: Peter Stone on "1776" - the librettist of the musical about the Founding Fathers discusses them. White House: James Monroe - another former President who died on the Fourth.

Directory categories: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, American Presidents, U.S. History, 1776: The Musical

Archived under: 4th of July, American History, Anniversaries, Biographies, Coincidence, Death, Government, John Adams, Presidents, Revolutionary War, Thomas Jefferson, United States, Weird Stuff

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There's a time and place for everything, including monkeying around at work. Recently Yahoo! Search introduced SearchMonkey, which allows users to develop bits of code that change the way information is displayed in search results. You can create your own tweaks, or visit the SearchMonkey Gallery for applications developed by Yahoo! and others. We're proud to present the SearchMonkey Directory application, which allows you to pull Directory information into search results. Whenever you search, the application checks to see what's in the Directory, and adds links back to sites' Directory categories. These categories provide a quick and easy way to find related sites, as well as adding a bit more information to your search results. Here are some examples you can check out -- once you've added the application: John Wayne, the Titanic, cane toads, and climate change. And speaking of monkeys, let us introduce our new category for Greasemonkey, a Firefox extension that allows you to add program scripts that can increase a page's functionality -- or even change the way it looks. Be sure to check out the beginner guides before taking a swing on this vine. In other news this week, a couple big announcements for video game junkies: Civilization Revolution will be the latest installment in Sid Meier's empire, and Blizzard announced that the long-awaited Diablo III is in development (we highly recommend watching the gameplay trailer -- the graphics are amazing). Also in our Entertainment category, we were thrilled and chilled to see that Friday the 13th (Part 12!) is slated to be released in 2009. Can the lucky 13th installment be far behind? That's it for this week, but be sure to check out the suggested categories below to see more of our monkey business. Suggested Sites... Yahoo! Directory: Firefox Extensions - build a better browser. Yahoo! Directory: Friday the 13th Series - boo! Yahoo! Directory: Civilization Series - create your own empire... Yahoo! Directory: Diablo Series - ...or get chased by demons. Yahoo! Directory: Mozilla - not to be confused with Godzilla or gorillas.

Directory categories: The Dark Knight - Viral Sites, 2008 Midwest Floods, California Wildfires, Beijing Olympics News, Clay Felker (1925 - 2008)

Archived under: 4th of July, Batman, Computers, Horror, Movies, Video Games, Yahoo!, Yahoo! Directory

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(Photo by Jennifer Warren) Deep in the Mojave Desert, along a stretch of Route 66, lies the little almost-ghost-town of Oatman, Arizona. It began as a simple mining tent camp, but in 1915 two miners struck gold valued at a cool $10 million, and little Oatman boomed. Its luck ran out in 1921, however, when a fire destroyed most of the town. Oatman still exists as an authentic western town that really comes to life one day a year. At high noon on July 4, while you're busy picnicking or barbecuing, people gather on the streets of Oatman for a strange competition: to see who will be the first to fry an egg on the sidewalk, using only the heat from the sun and various metal and glass cooking implements. Strange as this contest might sound, it turns out that frying eggs without the aid of fire is more common than you'd expect. Some people have cooked them on their PCs' processors. Not to be outdone, Mac users have also got in on the fun, and some crazy people think their Xbox 360 is worthy of little else. So whether you like to cook your eggs at home, or on the streets of a desolate Arizona gold town, enjoy your Fourth of July, and just be thankful we got through this entire story without a single terrible egg pun. Suggested Sites... Oatman Sidewalk Egg Frying Contest - an official page? Gunfighter's Reunion and Sidewalk Egg-Frying Contest - there's even a poster. July 4 Recipes - just in case eggs don't float your boat.

Directory categories: Egg Recipes, Cooking, Route 66, Omelets, Ghost Towns

Archived under: 4th of July, American History, Cooking, Food and Drink, Old West

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