Korva is a scroll of the internet’s best ideas.
Florida man held the safe's key
A century in waiting
For nearly a century the safe sat in Washington while the country changed around it. It was there as the Washington Monument went up, through two world wars, the Great Depression, the Titanic, the March on Washington, the Stonewall riots, and men walking on the moon. In the early 1970s, the coverage of the approaching bicentennial prompted a clever reporter to ask whether the centennial safe was supposed to be opened.
The lost key
That question led to the Smithsonian, where someone thought the institution still had the safe but had no idea how to open it. The New York Times reported that the Smithsonian could not find the keys to the centennial safe.
Anna Dean had no children, and she had not given the key to the Smithsonian. It had stayed in her family, and a man in Florida who read the article realized he had it.
Bringing it to the Capitol
In January 1976, the safe was found in storage and brought to the Capitol. With the key in hand, there was still the worry that it had rusted, so a locksmith was hired to jimmy the lock if needed.
Why can rust jam an old lock?
Iron oxide takes up far more volume than the iron it forms from, so corrosion swells inside tight spaces. In a lock, that swelling binds the levers, bolts, and springs that must slide past each other. Old iron safes were built with fine tolerances, so even a thin layer of rust can stop them. Locksmiths facing a seized lock typically start with penetrating oil and move to drilling if that fails.
Why did the bicentennial draw so much attention?
Congress created the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration in 1966 to coordinate celebrations. By the summer of 1976 the events included Operation Sail, a parade of tall ships from many countries through New York Harbor on July 4. Cities and towns across the country held their own parades and fireworks.
More from 99% Invisible
