Wikipedia:Main Page history/2016 December 31

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From today's featured article

The Eisenhower dollar is a one-dollar coin issued from 1971 to 1978 by the United States Mint. Authorized by law on December 31, 1970, it was the first US dollar coin minted since 1935, the last year of the Peace dollar. Designed by Frank Gasparro, the coin's obverse depicts President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who died in March 1969. Proposals in Congress to honor him on a coin led to a dispute over whether the new coin was to contain silver. In 1970, a compromise was reached to strike it in base metal for circulation, and in 40% silver as a collectible. Although the collector's pieces sold well, the new dollars failed to circulate, except in and around Nevada casinos, where they took the place of privately issued tokens. Coins from 1975 and 1976 bear a double date, 1776–1976, and a special reverse by Dennis R. Williams in honor of the Bicentennial. To replace the Eisenhower dollar with a smaller-sized piece, Congress authorized the Susan B. Anthony dollar, struck beginning in 1979, but that coin also failed to circulate. (Full article...)

Part of the United States Bicentennial coinage series, one of Wikipedia's featured topics.

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Did you know...

December calendar page

... that the name Pseudo-Jacquemart was assigned to the anonymous master illuminator (work pictured) for his collaboration with Jacquemart de Hesdin?
... that Darwin introduced the theory of evolution by natural selection, but was not the first to use the term "survival of the fittest"?
... that at the age of 16 years and 308 days, Idris Kanu became the youngest ever player for Aldershot Town F.C. in a league match?
... that Joan Acker and Miriam Johnson of the Center for the Study of Women in Society found that "Do you shave your legs?" was the question most strongly correlated to identifying with feminism?
... that facing an arrest warrant in India and pressure from within his party, Indian communist politician Z.A. Ahmed sought refuge in Pakistan?
... that the diet of the dwarf scaly-tailed squirrel includes bark and fruit, including the fleshy fruits of the umbrella tree?
... that Queen Emma of Hawaii and her lady-in-waiting Kiliwehi were received by Queen Victoria and spent a night at Windsor Castle?
... that Momoiro Clover Z did not know they were making their music video for "The Golden History" until filming started?

In the news

Debbie Reynolds

American actress, screenwriter, and author Carrie Fisher dies at the age of 60, and her mother, actress and singer Debbie Reynolds (pictured), dies one day later at the age of 84.
English singer, songwriter, and record producer George Michael dies at the age of 53.
A Tupolev Tu-154 crashes near Sochi, Russia, killing all 92 people on board, including 64 members of the Alexandrov Ensemble.
The United Nations Security Council adopts a resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Scientists announce the first vaccine shown to be effective against Ebola.

On this day...

December 31: Hogmanay in Scotland

2008 Times Square Ball

405 or 406 – The Vandals, Alans and Suebians crossed the Rhine River to begin an invasion of Gaul.
1857 – Queen Victoria selected Ottawa, then a small logging town, to be the capital of the British colony of Canada.
1907 – Times Square in New York City held its first New Year's Eve celebrations with the ball drop (2008 version pictured).
1972 – Puerto Rican baseball player Roberto Clemente died in a plane crash en route to deliver aid to victims of the Nicaragua earthquake.
1998 – The European Exchange Rate Mechanism froze the values of the legacy currencies in the Eurozone and established the value of the euro currency.

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Today's featured picture

St. Michael Vanquishing Satan is an oil painting by the Italian High Renaissance artist Raphael which depicts the archangel Michael slaying Satan. Originally a panel painting at the behest of Pope Leo X, the work was transferred to canvas and now hangs in the Louvre.

Painting: Raphael

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