100px|Reverse side of the Sacagawea dollar
The Sacagawea dollar is a United States dollar coin which has been
minted every year since 2000. The Statue of Liberty was originally
proposed as the design subject, but Sacagawea, the Shoshone guide of
the Lewis and Clark expedition, was eventually chosen. The coin
features an obverse by Glenna Goodacre and a reverse by Thomas D.
Rogers. The new dollar coin was heavily marketed via a series of print,
radio and television advertisements, as well as United States Mint
partnerships with Wal-Mart and Cheerios. The Mint initially planned to
issue a 22-karat gold collector Sacagawea dollar in addition to the
regular production, but this idea was quickly abandoned after the
Mint's authority to strike the coins was questioned. Soon after initial
production of the dollar, it was noticed that some of the coins were
struck with the obverse of a state quarter and the normal reverse. The
Sacagawea dollar did not prove popular with the public, and mintage
dropped sharply in the second year of production. In 2009, the reverse
of the Sacagawea began changing yearly, with each design in the series
depicting a different Native American accomplishment. (more...)
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Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacagawea_dollar>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
863:
Byzantine–Arab Wars: The Byzantine Empire decisively defeated the
Emirate of Melitene in the Battle of Lalakaon, beginning the era of
Byzantine ascendancy.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lalakaon>
1942:
The Holocaust: In possibly the first Jewish ghetto uprising, residents
of the Łachwa Ghetto in occupied Poland, informed of the upcoming
"liquidation" of the ghetto, unsuccessfully fought against their Nazi
captors.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%81achwa_Ghetto>
1950:
Winning the Italian Grand Prix, Giuseppe Farina became the first
Formula One world champion.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Farina>
1991:
A fire killed 25 people locked inside a burning chicken processing
plant in Hamlet, North Carolina, US.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet_chicken_processing_plant_fire>
2004:
Russian security forces stormed a school in Beslan, North Ossetia, to
force an end to a three-day hostage crisis, killing at least 334 of the
over 1,100 hostages .
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beslan_school_hostage_crisis>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
éclat (n):
A brilliant or successful effect; brilliant, ostentatious show; glory,
renown
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%C3%A9clat>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Your patience may have long to wait,
Whether in little things or great,
But all good luck, you soon will
learn,
Must come to those who nobly earn.
Who hunts the hay-field over
Will find the four-leaved clover.
--Sarah Orne Jewett
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sarah_Orne_Jewett>
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