The Coinage Act of 1965 eliminated silver from the United States dime
(ten-cent piece) and quarter dollar, and also reduced the silver content
of the half dollar from 90 percent to 40 percent. There had been coin
shortages beginning in 1959, and the United States Bureau of the Mint
expanded production to try to meet demand. Increased industrial demand
for silver drove its price higher; there was widespread hoarding of
silver coins. With government stocks of the metal being depleted,
President Lyndon B. Johnson recommended that Congress allow silverless
dimes and quarters, and debased silver half dollars. Congress passed the
bill rapidly and Johnson signed it on July 23, 1965. The new coins
began to enter circulation in late 1965, and alleviated the shortages.
Precious metal coins vanished from circulation beginning in 1967 as the
price of silver rose. The act also banned the production of silver
dollars until at least 1970.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinage_Act_of_1965>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1914:
Austria-Hungary presented Serbia with an ultimatum to allow
them to investigate the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which
Serbia would ultimately reject, leading to World War I.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_Crisis>
1927:
Wilfred Rhodes of England and Yorkshire became the only person
to play in 1,000 first-class cricket matches.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilfred_Rhodes>
1982:
During the filming of Twilight Zone: The Movie in Valencia,
California, a helicopter crashed, killing three people and leading to
new safety standards.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twilight_Zone_accident>
1995:
Hale–Bopp, one of the most widely observed comets of the 20th
century, was discovered by two independent observers, Alan Hale and
Thomas Bopp.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Hale%E2%80%93Bopp>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
churchical:
1. (Christianity, informal) Pertaining to or characteristic of church;
ecclesiastical.
2. (chiefly Jamaican, music) Belonging to a style of Reggae music that
reflects a spiritual sensibility.
3. (chiefly Jamaican, Rastafari) Pertaining to the strain of Rastafarian
culture that emphasizes a traditional theocracy.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/churchical>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The Charter of the United Nations expresses the noblest
aspirations of man: abjugation of force in the settlement of disputes
between states; the assurance of human rights and fundamental freedoms
for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion; the
safeguarding of international peace and security. But these, too, as
were the phrases of the Covenant, are only words; their value depends
wholly on our will to observe and honour them and give them content and
meaning. The preservation of peace and the guaranteeing of man's basic
freedoms and rights require courage and eternal vigilance: courage to
speak and act — and if necessary, to suffer and die — for truth and
justice; eternal vigilance, that the least transgression of
international morality shall not go undetected and unremedied. These
lessons must be learned anew by each succeeding generation, and that
generation is fortunate indeed which learns from other than its own
bitter experience.
--Haile Selassie
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Haile_Selassie>