The Egyptian Obelisk That Crossed the Atlantic in 1880 in a Custom-Built Steamship and Now Stands in Central Park
The 21-metre granite obelisk known as Cleopatra's Needle was carved at Aswan for Pharaoh Thutmose III around 1450 BCE. The Khedive of Egypt gifted it to New York City in 1877. The 224-ton stone took 112 days to cross the Atlantic in the steamship Dessoug and was erected in Central Park on 22 January 1881. Modern atmospheric pollution has weathered it more in 145 years than the Egyptian desert did in 3,400.
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