Wikipedia:Main Page history/2019 August 26
From today's featured articleThe Alabama Centennial half dollar is a commemorative fifty-cent coin struck by the United States Bureau of the Mint in 1921 as a belated acknowledgement of the 100th anniversary of Alabama's admission to the Union in 1819. The half dollar was created by Laura Gardin Fraser, who became the first woman designer of a coin. Alabama Congressman Lilius Bratton Rainey introduced authorizing at the request of the state's centennial commission. The bill moved quickly through the legislative process and became law on May 10, 1920. The sponsors of the issue chose to depict William Bibb, the State of Alabama's first governor, and Thomas Kilby, its governor at the time of the centennial, thus making Governor Kilby the first living person to appear on a U.S. coin. They were issued in October 1921, and to boost sales, a symbol, 2X2, was included in the design for a minority of the coins; these are generally more expensive today. (Full article...)
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On this dayAugust 26: Eid al-Mubahalah (Islam, 2019), Heroes' Day and Herero Day in Namibia; National Heroes' Day in the Philippines (2019); Women's Equality Day in the United States
Manuel Abad y Queipo (b. 1751) · Geraldine Ferraro (b. 1935) · Ralph Vaughan Williams (d. 1958) |
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The first Scripps National Spelling Bee champion was Frank Neuhauser of Louisville, who beat eight other finalists to win the inaugural competition in 1925. The Scripps National Spelling Bee is an annual spelling bee held in the United States. The competition was initially organized by The Courier-Journal of Louisville, Kentucky, until the Scripps Howard Broadcasting Company (now the E. W. Scripps Company) assumed sponsorship in 1941. In both 1957 and 1962 joint champions were declared when both remaining contestants spelled the same word incorrectly. After three consecutive ties between 2014 and 2016, a written tiebreaker round was introduced, but it was discontinued for the 2019 Bee, which subsequently resulted in an unprecedented eight-way tie when the organizers ended the final session after the remaining contestants had completed five consecutive perfect rounds. (Full list...)
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Polystichum setiferum, also known as the soft shield-fern, is an evergreen or semi-evergreen fern native to southern and western Europe. The Latin specific epithet, setiferum, means 'with bristles'. The species is frequently cultivated as an ornamental plant for use in gardens. This picture shows a new leaf of the P. setiferum cultivar 'Cristato Pinnulum', about 30 cm (12 in) in height. Photograph credit: Dominicus Johannes Bergsma
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