The Indian Head cent is a penny ($0.01) that was produced by the U.S. Bureau of the Mint from 1859 to 1909. It was preceded by the large cent (1793–1857), a copper coin about the size of a half dollar, and the Flying Eagle cent. The large cent was discontinued after a rise in the price of copper in the wake of the California Gold Rush (1848–1855). The 1857 Flying Eagle is identical in diameter to the modern U.S. cent, but thicker, with a composition of 12% nickel and 88% copper. The Indian head cent, designed by James Barton Longacre, the Chief Engraver at the Philadelphia Mint, was initially the same size as the Flying Eagle. Cents were hoarded during the economic chaos of the American Civil War, when nickel was in short supply, and privately issued bronze tokens began to circulate until Congress authorized a thinner cent of bronze alloy. After the war the cent became popular, and even more so with the advent of coin-operated machines in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1909, the Indian Head cent was replaced by Victor D. Brenner's Lincoln cent.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Head_cent

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1444:

The League of Lezhë, an alliance of the regional chieftains, was established in Venetian Albania with Skanderbeg as its commander. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_of_Lezh%C3%AB

1776:

American Revolutionary War: Patriot militia from Georgia and South Carolina attempted to resist the British action to seize and remove supply ships anchored at Savannah, Georgia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Rice_Boats

1919:

Communist, revolutionary socialist, and syndicalist delegates met in Moscow to establish the Communist International. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_Congress_of_the_Comintern

1943:

World War II: Australian and American air forces attacked and destroyed a large convoy of the Japanese Navy in the Bismarck Sea north of Papua New Guinea. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Bismarck_Sea

1978:

Aboard the Soviet spacecraft Soyuz 28, Czechoslovak military pilot Vladimír Remek became the first person from outside the Soviet Union or the United States to go into space. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_28

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

montage: A composite work, particularly an artwork, created by assembling or putting together other elements such as pieces of music, pictures, texts, videos, etc. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/montage

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

It’s a troublesome world. All the people who're in it are troubled with troubles almost every minute. You oughta be thankful, a whole heaping lot, For the places and people you're lucky you're not!.   --Dr. Seuss https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dr._Seuss