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This week in Philly history: That time Taco Bell said it bought the Liberty Bell

Ann Marie DiSerafino sat down at her breakfast table on the morning of April 1, 1996, paging through that day’s Inquirer when a full-page advertisement featuring a photo of the Liberty Bell caught her eye. “In an effort to help reduce the national debt,” the ad read, “Taco Bell is pleased to announce that we have agreed to purchase the Liberty Bell.” “It will now be called the Taco Liberty Bell,” the ad proclaimed. DiSerafino, then a spokeswoman for the National Park Service’s Philadelphia office that maintains the historic treasure, panicked.
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