The Gadsden Purchase half dollar was a proposed commemorative coin to be issued by the United States Bureau of the Mint. El Paso coin dealer L. W. Hoffecker (pictured) wanted a coin issued he could control and distribute. He gained the support of several members of Congress, and a bill was introduced. Treasury Secretary Andrew W. Mellon sent a letter and two officials in opposition to the bill at its committee hearing, but it passed both houses of Congress without dissent. On April 21, 1930, President Herbert Hoover vetoed the bill, deeming commemorative coins abusive; the House of Representatives sustained his veto. No commemorative coins were struck during the remainder of the Hoover administration, and although they began again after Franklin D. Roosevelt was inaugurated, in 1938, Roosevelt vetoed one, citing Hoover's action, as would Truman and Eisenhower. No commemorative coins were struck from 1955 until after the Treasury Department changed its position in 1981.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1944:

The United States Forest Service authorized the use of Smokey Bear as its mascot to replace Bambi. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smokey_Bear

1974:

On the verge of impeachment and removal from office amidst the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon became the first president of the United States to resign his office. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon

2001:

A suicide bomber attacked a Sbarro pizza restaurant in Jerusalem, killing 15 people and wounding 130 others. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sbarro_restaurant_suicide_bombing

2014:

Michael Brown, an 18-year-old African-American man, was killed by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, resulting in widespread protests and unrest. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Michael_Brown

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

impeachment: 1. (countable) The act of calling into question or challenging the accuracy or propriety of something. 2. (countable, law) A demonstration in a court of law, or before another finder of fact, that a witness was ingenuine before, and is therefore less likely to tell the truth now. 3. (countable, law, Britain) An accusation that a person has committed a crime against the state, such as treason. 4. (countable, law, chiefly US) The act of impeaching or charging a public official with misconduct, especially if serious, often with the aim of having the official dismissed from office. 5. (uncountable) The state of being impeached. 6. (uncountable, archaic) Hindrance; impediment; obstruction. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/impeachment

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

The need to speak the truth and even to seek it for oneself is only conceivable in so far as the individual thinks and acts as one of a society, and not of any society … but of a society founded on reciprocity and mutual respect, and therefore on cooperation.   --Jean Piaget https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget