Sir Charles William Fremantle (1834–1914) was a British official who served for 26 years as deputy master of the Royal Mint, and for most of that time as its executive head. Educated at Eton College, he served as private secretary to several officials, latterly Benjamin Disraeli, including while Disraeli was prime minister in 1868. Disraeli appointed him as deputy to Thomas Graham, the master of the Mint. Graham died in September 1869, and the Treasury decided the mastership should go to the chancellor of the exchequer of the day, with the deputy master the head of the Royal Mint. Fremantle began work to modernise the antiquated Royal Mint. Fremantle sought to beautify the coinage and, believing the Mint's engraver, Leonard Charles Wyon, not up to the task, sought to do so by resurrecting classic coin designs, like Benedetto Pistrucci's depiction of Saint George and the Dragon for the sovereign. In 1894, at the age of sixty, Fremantle retired from the Royal Mint. (Full article...)
... that Thomas Broun has been blamed for inflating the number of beetle species in New Zealand?
... that a school was once evacuated after the water gun of a student playing senior assassin was mistaken for a firearm?
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Gold dinar minted with al-Musta'li's name
Al-Mustaʿlī biʾllāh (15/16 September 1074 – 1101) was the ninth Fatimid caliph and the nineteenth imam of Musta'li Ismailism. He became caliph through the machinations of his brother-in-law al-Afdal Shahanshah. In response, his oldest brother, Nizar, revolted in Alexandria; his defeat and execution split the Isma'ili movement. Al-Musta'li remained subordinate to al-Afdal, who was the de facto ruler of the Fatimid Caliphate. The Caliphate's territory in Egypt experienced good government and prosperity, but the Fatimids suffered setbacks in Syria, where they faced the advance of the Seljuk Turks. Al-Afdal recovered the port city of Tyre and recaptured Jerusalem in the turmoil caused by the arrival of the First Crusade. Despite Fatimid attempts to make common cause with the Crusaders, the Seljuks advanced south and captured Jerusalem in July 1099 and defeated the Fatimid army at the Battle of Ascalon. Al-Musta'li died in 1101 and was succeeded by his son al-Amir. (Full article...)
1989 – Typhoon Sarah dissipated after causing extensive damage along an erratic path across the Western Pacific, killing 71 in Taiwan, the Philippines, and the Gotō Islands.
Marilyn Monroe posing during filming for The Seven Year Itch
1462 – The Ottoman conquest of Lesbos ended upon the surrender of commander Niccolò Gattilusio; the conquering Mehmed II executed 300 Italian soldiers by chopping them in half, claiming he was fulfilling a promise to "spare their heads".
Il trovatore is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto largely written by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the Spanish play El trovador (1836) by Antonio García Gutiérrez. Set in the 15th century in Biscay and Aragon, Spain, it tells the story of a nobleman named Count di Luna, who falls in love with Leonora, a lady-in-waiting. However, Leonora in turn falls in love with Manrico, the titular troubadour of the opera. The premiere of Il trovatore took place at the Teatro Apollo in Rome in January 1853. This undated poster by Luigi Morgari depicts a scene from act 4 of the opera, in which Leonora encounters Manrico, who is imprisoned in di Luna's dungeon.
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