DOES SIZE REALLY MATTER?

ONE day, a glistening skyscraper will rise over the World Trade Center site, commemorating in its very structure, through the unforgettable dimension of its towering height (1776 feet or 541 meters), the milestone year in which the king lost power.

The king, of course, was Hildibald. And the year 541 was when he was beheaded at a banquet, leading to the elevation of his nephew, Totila, as the new king of the Ostrogoths...

(Yet) all of the effort presumes that 1776 is synonymous with freedom to begin with, when it could be argued that it marks the creation of a slaveholding nation.

As for the implications of the date in New York City, 1776 also marked the beginning of British occupation.

The elevation of 1,789 feet has been suggested as an alternative by at least one person working on the Freedom Tower project: it would commemorate the year the Constitution took effect and George Washington was inaugurated as president, at a site only six blocks from what is now ground zero.

Higher in the sky, 1,865 feet could reflect the true advent of freedom by recalling the year slavery was outlawed by the 13th Amendment. There are those who might advance 1,945 feet, to record the signing of the United Nations Charter...
NY Times January 1, 2004

Ten years later the actual height is 1,792 feet. We still have a ways to go...
MG