The Hudson Sesquicentennial half dollar is a fifty-cent piece struck by the United States Bureau of the Mint in 1935 as a commemorative coin. The coin was designed by Chester Beach. Its obverse depicts the Half Moon, flagship of Henry Hudson, after whom the city of Hudson is named. In addition to showing the ship, the coin displays a version of the Hudson city seal, with Neptune riding a whale, a design that has drawn commentary. Although the city of Hudson was a relatively small municipality, legislation to issue a coin in honor of its 150th anniversary went through Congress without opposition and was signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, becoming the Act of May 2, 1935. Most of the coins were likely bought by coin dealers, leaving few for collectors, with the result that prices spiked from the $1 cost at the time of issue. This caused collector anger, but did not lower the coin's value, which has continued to increase in the 80-plus years since it was struck..

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_D._Roosevelt

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1903:

A rockslide buried the Canadian mining town of Frank under more than 110 million tonnes (120 million short tons) of rock, killing at least 70 people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Slide

1945:

The Holocaust: The U.S. Army liberated Dachau, the first Nazi concentration camp, and killed German prisoners of war. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dachau_liberation_reprisals

1970:

Vietnam War: South Vietnamese forces began the Cambodian campaign, aiming to attack North Vietnamese jungle bases. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodian_campaign

2015:

The ringleaders of the Bali Nine were executed in Indonesia for attempting to smuggle 8.3 kg (18 lb) of heroin to Australia in 2005. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bali_Nine

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

curate's egg: (idiomatic) A thing which has good and bad parts, but is overall spoilt by the bad. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/curate%27s_egg

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Whatever is right can be achieved through the irresistible power of awakened and informed public opinion. Our object, therefore, is not to enquire whether a thing can be done, but whether it ought to be done, to so exert the forces of publicity that public opinion will compel it be done.   --William Randolph Hearst https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Randolph_Hearst