Video: 'Liberty Weekend Opening Ceremony' (coverage began at 8:00 p.m. EDT, ceremonies began at 8:30 p.m.; President Reagan spoke at 9:28 p.m. prior to the unveiling and again at 11:04 p.m.; the torch was lit at 11:08 p.m.)

(Thursday, July 3, 1986, evening EDT; during Liberty Weekend) — With the eyes of America on its most cherished symbol of freedom, the city and the nation rededicated the Statue of Liberty in a blaze of light tonight, marking its centennial as a beacon of hope in New York Harbor.

In a radiant crescendo to Liberty Weekend’s opening ceremonies on Governors Island, President Ronald Reagan “unveiled” the monument by triggering a 1.4 million-watt series of laser beams that shot a mile across the harbor and bathed the statue in successive stages of light.

Beams of bright red caught the base of the Lady first, then changed to red-amber as they caught the pedestal. Seconds later, a steel-blue wash revealed the full, 151-foot monument. Next 15 floodlights splashed the full statue in an intense white light.