The Maine Centennial half dollar is a commemorative coin struck in 1920
by the United States Bureau of the Mint. It was sculpted by Anthony de
Francisci, following sketches by an unknown artist from the U.S. state
of Maine. Officials in Maine wanted a commemorative half dollar to
circulate as an advertisement for the centennial of the state's
admission to the Union, and of the planned celebrations. Congress passed
authorizing legislation without opposition. The Commission of Fine Arts
urged changes in the design, but Maine officials insisted. The state
decided to sell the coins at $1, double face value. Fifty thousand
pieces, half the authorized mintage, were struck for release to the
public, though they were issued too late to be sold at the centennial
celebrations in Portland. The coins sold out, but this took at least
until 1929. They list for hundreds to thousands of dollars, depending
on condition.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maine_Centennial_half_dollar>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1877:
An 8.5 Ms earthquake struck the northern portion of Chile,
resulting in the death of 2,385 people, mostly victims of the ensuing
tsunami as far away as Hawaii and Fiji.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1877_Iquique_earthquake>
1955:
Kermit the Frog, the first and most famous Muppet by Jim
Henson, made his debut on the television show Sam and Friends.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kermit_the_Frog>
1979:
Prominent Iranian Jew Habib Elghanian was executed after having
been convicted by a revolutionary tribunal of various charges,
triggering a mass exodus of Jews from Iran.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habib_Elghanian>
2001:
After a football match between Ghana's two most successful
teams, police fired tear gas into the crowd to quell some unrest,
causing a stampede that killed 126 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accra_Sports_Stadium_disaster>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
system:
1. A collection of organized things; a whole composed of relationships
among its members.
2. (derogatory) Preceded by the word the: the mainstream culture,
controlled by the elites or government of a state, or a combination of
them, seen as oppressive to the individual.
3. (computing) A set of hardware and software operating in a computer.
4. (mathematics) A set of equations involving the same variables, which
are to be solved simultaneously.
5. (music) A set of staves linked by a brace that indicate instruments
or sounds that are to be played simultaneously.
6. (physiology) A set of body organs having a particular function.
7. A method or way of organizing or planning.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/system>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Life today is the fruit of an interregnum, of an empty space
between two organizations of historical rule — that which was, that
which is to be. For this reason it is essentially provisional.
--José Ortega y Gasset
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Ortega_y_Gasset>