The Vermont Sesquicentennial half dollar is a commemorative fifty-cent
piece struck by the United States Mint in 1927. Designed by Charles
Keck, its obverse depicts early Vermont leader Ira Allen, brother of
Ethan Allen. The reverse design of a catamount has been criticized as
irrelevant to Vermont. On January 9, 1925, U.S. Senator Frank L. Greene
of Vermont introduced legislation for commemorative coins to mark the
150th anniversary of Vermont independence in 1777 and of the American
victory at the Battle of Bennington the same year. His bill passed the
Senate without difficulty, but the House of Representatives added two
more special half dollars. The Senate agreed to the changes, and
President Calvin Coolidge signed the authorizing act on February 24,
1925. The coins did not sell out; over a fourth of the issue was
returned for redemption and melting. Today, they can sell for hundreds
of dollars, depending on condition.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermont_Sesquicentennial_half_dollar>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1493:
Ottoman wars in Europe: At the Battle of Krbava Field, a large
Croatian army intercepted an Ottoman force returning to the Sanjak of
Bosnia, but was defeated.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Krbava_Field>
1739:
The Stono Rebellion, at the time the largest slave rebellion in
the Thirteen Colonies of British America, erupted near Charleston, South
Carolina.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stono_Rebellion>
1954:
The 6.7 Mw Chlef earthquake struck Algeria, leaving at least
1,243 people dead and 5,000 injured, and forced the government to
implement comprehensive reforms in building codes.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1954_Chlef_earthquake>
2001:
Ahmad Shah Massoud, leader of the Northern Alliance, was
assassinated in Afghanistan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_Shah_Massoud>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
colonelcy:
(military) The rank or office of a colonel.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/colonelcy>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
There comes a day when, for someone who has persecuted us, we
feel only indifference, a weariness at his stupidity. Then we forgive
him.
--Cesare Pavese
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Cesare_Pavese>
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