Wikipedia:Main Page history/2015 September 26

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From today's featured article

The three-dollar piece was a gold coin produced by the United States Bureau of the Mint from 1854 to 1889. Designed by Mint Chief Engraver James B. Longacre, the obverse ("heads" side) bears a representation of Lady Liberty wearing a headdress of a Native American princess, and the reverse displays a wreath of corn, wheat, cotton, and tobacco. Longacre sought to make it as different as possible from the quarter eagle ($2.50 piece), striking it on a thinner planchet and using a distinctive design. Although over 100,000 were struck in the first year, the coin saw little use. It circulated somewhat on the West Coast, where gold and silver were used to the exclusion of paper money, but what little place it had in commerce in the East was lost in the economic disruption of the Civil War, and was never regained. The piece was last struck in 1889, and Congress ended the series the following year. Although many dates were struck in small numbers, the rarest was produced at the San Francisco Mint in 1870 (1870-S); only one such coin is known with certainty to exist. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Engraved portrait of Joseph Sprigg, 1890

... that Joseph Sprigg (pictured) was the first Democratic Attorney General of West Virginia and the first president of the West Virginia Bar Association?
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... that according to the locals, Bennys Run had always been referred to thus, though referred to as "Buddys Run" on a 1952 United States Geological Survey map?
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In the news

Martin Winterkorn

A stampede during the Hajj pilgrimage at Mecca, Saudi Arabia, kills more than 700 people and injures at least 800 others.
Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn (pictured) resigns after company officials admit widespread rigging of diesel emissions test results.
A U.S. federal judge rules that the copyright to "Happy Birthday to You", claimed by Warner/Chappell Music, is invalid.
More than 100 people are killed in a series of bombings across Borno State, Nigeria.
Syriza wins a plurality in the Greek legislative election.
Japan's upper chamber of parliament approves legislation allowing use of Japanese military forces outside Japan for the first time since World War II.

Ongoing events:
- Southeast Asian haze
- European migrant crisis
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On this day...

September 26: European Day of Languages; Day of the National Flag in Ecuador (1860); Dominion Day in New Zealand (1907)

The Parthenon

1087 – William II, son of William the Conqueror, was crowned King of England.
1687 – The Parthenon (pictured) in Athens was partially destroyed during an armed conflict between the Venetians under Francesco Morosini and Ottoman forces.
1917 – First World War: The Battle of Polygon Wood, part of the Third Battle of Ypres, began near Ypres, Belgium.
1983 – Soviet Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Petrov averted a possible worldwide nuclear war by deliberately certifying what otherwise appeared to be an impending attack by the United States as a false alarm.
2010 – Scottish aid worker Linda Norgrove and three Afghan colleagues were kidnapped by members of the Taliban in the Kunar Province of eastern Afghanistan.

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Today's featured picture

The Sukhoi Superjet 100 is a modern fly-by-wire twin-engine regional jet with 8 to 108 passenger seats. Development began in 2000; the aircraft had its maiden flight on 19 May 2008 and entered commercial service on 21 April 2011. This aircraft is seen flying off the coast of Italy near Sanremo.

Photograph: Katsuhiko Tokunaga/SuperJet International

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