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From today's featured article

Reverse of a double florin

The double florin, or four-shilling piece, was produced by the Royal Mint between 1887 and 1890, and was one of the shortest-lived of all denominations of British coinage. Its obverse, designed by Joseph Boehm and engraved by Leonard Charles Wyon, depicts Queen Victoria, whilst the reverse (pictured), featuring national symbols of the United Kingdom, was designed by Wyon based on the coinage of Charles II. When issued in June 1887, the Jubilee coinage, of which the double florin was a part, provoked an outcry. The small royal crown Boehm had depicted on Victoria's head provoked widespread mockery. The double florin was criticised as it was similar in size to the crown, worth five shillings, which led to confusion. The issue was said to be particularly acute in public houses, where barmaids accepted it believing it to be a crown, giving it the nickname "Barmaid's Ruin". The coin was no longer minted after 1890, though it remained in circulation for many years, and is still legal tender for 20 pence (£0.20). (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Ron Miles

... that Ron Miles (pictured), who would have turned 59 today, played in the same high school jazz band as Don Cheadle?
... that during the attack on the Delhi chief minister's residence, protesters painted the gate red and tried to scale it while police officers watched?
... that Francis Orray Ticknor was a country doctor whose fame as a poet relies on "Little Giffen", a poem about one of his patients who died in the American Civil War?
... that the 1653 hymn "Du, o schönes Weltgebäude", about renouncing the world, contains the stanza "Komm, O Tod, des Schlafes Bruder", which Bach used to conclude his cross-staff cantata?
... that Satyagraha Hoerip wrote a short story set during the Indonesian mass killings of 1965–66 from the perspective of the killers-to-be?
... that the NBA Comeback Player of the Year Award was canceled, reportedly because of drugs?
... that a call to prayer is a common feature to Christianity, Islam and Judaism?
... that topics on Recess Therapy have included the economy, climate change, and peeing your pants?

In the news

Michelle O'Neill

Sinn Féin, led by Michelle O'Neill (pictured), win the most seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly election.
Ronnie O'Sullivan wins the World Snooker Championship, defeating Judd Trump in the final.
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Twitter's board of directors accepts a takeover offer from Elon Musk.

On this day

May 9: Europe Day in the European Union; Victory Day in various Eastern European countries (1945); Liberation Day in the Channel Islands (1945)

Battle of Heligoland

328 – Athanasius took office as Patriarch of Alexandria.
1864 – Second Schleswig War: The Battle of Heligoland (depicted), the last naval engagement fought by squadrons of wooden ships, took place between the Danish and Austro-Prussian fleets.
1918 – First World War: Germany repelled Britain's second attempt to blockade the Belgian port of Ostend.
1992 – An underground methane explosion occurred at the Westray Mine in Plymouth, Nova Scotia, killing all 26 Canadian coal miners who were working at the time.
2012 – The pilots of a Sukhoi Superjet, ignoring alerts from the terrain warning system, crashed the aircraft into Mount Salak in Indonesia, resulting in the deaths of all 45 people on board.

Al-Adid (b. 1151)
John Dalrymple, 2nd Earl of Stair (d. 1747)
Yukiya Amano (b. 1947)

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From today's featured list

Judy Ann Santos

Filipino actress Judy Ann Santos has had an extensive career in film and television. She made her screen debut in 1986 with a supporting role in the drama series Kaming Mga Ulila. At the age of 10, Santos appeared in a leading role as the eponymous character in the children's television series Ula, Ang Batang Gubat (1988). She achieved wider recognition when she played the titular roles in the drama series Mara Clara (1992) and Esperanza (1997). Santos established herself as a leading actress in the 1990s and 2000s. She won the Gawad Urian for Best Actress for playing a woman with dissociative identity disorder in the psychological drama Sabel (2004). For her performance in the comedy drama Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo (2006), Santos received the FAMAS, Golden Screen, Luna, Metro Manila Film Festival, and Star Award for Best Actress. She co-produced the independent film Ploning (2008) and starred in the Brillante Mendoza-directed war drama Mindanao (2019). Both films were submissions for Best International Feature Film at the 81st and 93rd Academy Awards, respectively. The latter earned her a Cairo International Film Festival Award for Best Actress. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

A map of Europe in the year 1923, showing political boundaries. The post–World War I treaties (1919–1921) and Revolutions of 1917–1923 had created many new states, including the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Irish Free State, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, a German Republic, an Austrian Republic, Czechoslovakia, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and Poland.

Map credit: George Washington Bacon

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