a few things worth knowing · wednesday, october 28, 2026
An arch gets its final piece, a very large copper woman celebrates an anniversary, and animation predates the screen currently demanding your attention. Four useful detours for October 28; the last one leaves the calendar behind altogether.
today in history: october 28
1. the gateway arch finishes the group project
On October 28, 1965, the Gateway Arch’s final section went into place, completing its exterior. Today marks 61 years since the two sides became one continuous monument. The archival photographs above make the last step look considerably less relaxing than the finished skyline suggests.
Eero Saarinen’s design is 630 feet tall and 630 feet across at ground level. That tidy equality is easily missed when you are busy thinking about how someone had to join the top. National Park Service construction photographs · dimensions and history.
2. lady liberty’s copper is surprisingly thin
The Statue of Liberty was inaugurated on October 28, 1886, making this its 140th dedication anniversary. Its copper skin is only 3/32 of an inch thick—roughly 2.4 millimeters. Monumental presence; surprisingly economical outerwear.
The familiar green is a patina formed as the copper oxidized, not the original paint job. The National Park Service notes that this coating helps protect the copper beneath it. Sometimes leaving the finish alone is the maintenance plan. NPS dedication history · materials and patina.
3. animation’s big day began with an optical theatre
On October 28, 1892, Émile Reynaud presented his Théâtre Optique in Paris. The international animation association ASIFA chose that anniversary for International Animation Day, which it established in 2002. The art form’s annual celebration points back to an inventor making projected pictures move, rather than a studio franchise.
ASIFA’s definition makes room for clay, puppets, sand, paper and computers. “Animated” describes a way of making images, not a promise that the resulting film will babysit anyone. ASIFA on the anniversary and the medium.
one evergreen detour: venus does not respect your calendar
This is a bonus fact, not an October 28 anniversary: Venus takes about 243 Earth days to rotate once, but about 225 to orbit the Sun. One complete spin takes longer than its year. That is the precise version of the familiar “a day is longer than a year” fact; a rotation and a sunrise-to-sunrise day are different measurements.
Venus also spins in the opposite direction from Earth, so the Sun would rise in the west and set in the east. A science-fiction setting can sound made up and still be the planet next door. NASA’s Venus facts.
Image credits: Gateway Arch construction, JNEM Archives / National Park Service; Statue of Liberty sunset, National Park Service. No claim to original U.S. Government works. Venus, NASA/JPL-Caltech, Mariner 10.
leave a reply