A chime that changed the world occurred on July 8, 1776 when the Liberty Bell rang out from the tower of Independence Hall summoning citizens to hear the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence. One hundred and ten years later the French, as a gift of friendship, gave to the U.S. the Statue of Liberty, which has become the universal symbol of political freedom and democracy. Since that time it has stood for the ideals of America perhaps more than any other American symbol.