The Pilgrim Tercentenary half dollar was a commemorative fifty-cent coin struck by the United States Bureau of the Mint in 1920 and 1921 to mark the 300th anniversary of the arrival of the Pilgrims in North America. It was designed by Cyrus E. Dallin. Massachusetts congressman Joseph Walsh was involved in joint federal and state efforts to mark the anniversary. He saw a reference to a proposed Maine Centennial half dollar and realized that a coin could be issued for the Pilgrim anniversary in support of the observances at Plymouth, Massachusetts. The bill moved quickly through the legislative process and became the Act of May 12, 1920, with the signature of President Woodrow Wilson. Sculptor James Earle Fraser criticized some aspects of the design, but the Treasury approved it. After a promising start, sales tailed off, and tens of thousands of coins from each year were returned to the Philadelphia Mint for melting.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1895:

The first automobile race in the United States, the Chicago Times-Herald race, was held in Chicago. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Times-Herald_race

1925:

Grand Ole Opry, the longest-running radio broadcast in the U.S., first aired on WSM in Nashville, Tennessee. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Ole_Opry

1967:

Jocelyn Bell Burnell noticed a "bit of scruff" in data from a radio telescope, which turned out to be from PSR B1919+21, the first discovered pulsar. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PSR_B1919%2B21

1979:

Air New Zealand Flight 901 crashed into Antarctica's Mount Erebus, killing all 257 people on board. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_New_Zealand_Flight_901

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

turducken: (US, cooking) A dish, usually roasted, consisting of a deboned turkey stuffed with a deboned duck that has been stuffed with a small deboned chicken, and also containing stuffing. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/turducken

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Lord, for the erring thought Not into evil wrought: Lord, for the wicked will Betrayed and baffled still: For the heart from itself kept, Our thanksgiving accept. For ignorant hopes that were Broken to our blind prayer: For pain, death, sorrow, sent Unto our chastisement: For all loss of seeming good, Quicken our gratitude.   --William Dean Howells https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Dean_Howells