The Washington quarter is the present quarter dollar or 25-cent piece
issued by the United States Mint. The coin was first struck in 1932; the
original version was designed by sculptor John Flanagan. The new silver
quarters entered circulation on August 1, 1932; they were struck in that
metal until the Mint transitioned to copper-nickel clad coinage in 1965.
A special reverse commemorating the United States Bicentennial was used
in 1975 and 1976, with all pieces bearing the double date 1776–1976;
there are no 1975-dated quarters. Since 1999, the original eagle reverse
has not been used; instead that side of the quarter has commemorated the
50 states, the nation's other jurisdictions, and National Park Service
sites—the last as part of the ongoing America the Beautiful Quarters
series, which will continue until 2021. The bust of Washington was made
smaller beginning in 1999; in 2010 it was restored to bring out greater
detail.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_quarter>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
618:
Li Yuan became Emperor Gaozu of Tang (pictured), initiating
three centuries of the Tang Dynasty in China.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tang_Dynasty>
1815:
War of the Seventh Coalition: Napoleon Bonaparte fought and
lost his final battle, the Battle of Waterloo in present-day Belgium.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Waterloo>
1858:
Charles Darwin received a manuscript by fellow naturalist
Alfred Russel Wallace on natural selection, which prompted Darwin to
publish his theory of evolution.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Russel_Wallace>
1908:
The University of the Philippines, the national university of
the Philippines, was established.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_the_Philippines>
1983:
Aboard Space Shuttle Challenger, astronaut Sally Ride became
the first American woman in space.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Ride>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
chiaroscuro:
An artistic technique developed during the Renaissance, referring to the
use of exaggerated light contrasts in order to create the illusion of
volume.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/chiaroscuro>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
I believe we are born with our minds open to wonderful experiences, and
only slowly learn to limit ourselves to narrow tastes. We are taught to
lose our curiosity by the bludgeon-blows of mass marketing, which
brainwash us to see "hits," and discourage exploration.
--Roger Ebert
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Roger_Ebert>