Wikipedia:Main Page history/2019 December 22

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From today's featured article

The Maryland Tercentenary half dollar was a commemorative fifty-cent piece issued by the United States Bureau of the Mint in 1934. It depicts Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, on the obverse (pictured) and the coat of arms of Maryland on the reverse. The Maryland Tercentenary Commission sought a coin in honor of the 300th anniversary of the arrival of English settlers in Maryland. The state's senators introduced legislation, and it passed both houses of Congress with no opposition. A design had already been prepared by Professor Hans Schuler; it passed review by the Commission of Fine Arts, though there was controversy over whether Lord Baltimore, a Cavalier and Catholic, would have worn a collar typical of Puritans. The Commission sold about 15,000 of the full issue of 25,000 for $1 each, and thereafter discounted the price for large sales to dealers and speculators. The coins have increased in value over time, and are now valued in the low hundreds of dollars. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Miniature altarpiece

... that the 1511 miniature altarpiece (pictured) in the British Museum, sometimes attributed to Adam Dircksz, is the only surviving Gothic boxwood miniature to have been inscribed with a date by its artist?
... that soprano Irma Beilke appeared as Marzelline in Beethoven's Fidelio on 4 September 1945 in the first opera performance in Berlin after World War II?
... that New York City's $4 million Squibb Park Bridge was demolished less than seven years after it was built?
... that Shen Jilan, who successfully proposed the clause of equal pay for equal work in China's first constitution in 1954, is still serving as a congresswoman 65 years later?
... that in 1817, the Ontario became the first steamboat to see active service on the Great Lakes at Lake Ontario?
... that the surgeon Thomas Morstede served the three successive English kings Henry IV, Henry V, and Henry VI?
... that The History of Doing describes a fundamentalist Hindu protest, with many women part of it, in favour of sati, the burning of widows?
... that Jef Raskin would prove his FLOW language was easy to use by closing his eyes, typing randomly on the keyboard, and producing executable programs?

In the news

Donald Trump

United States president Donald Trump (pictured) is impeached by the House of Representatives on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
Former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf is sentenced to death in absentia for treason and subverting the constitution.
In India, at least six people are killed and many others are arrested in protests against a law on citizenship for migrants.
The Conservatives, led by Boris Johnson, win a majority of seats in the UK general election.

On this day

December 22: December solstice (04:19 UTC, 2019); Hanukkah begins at sunset (Judaism, 2019); Yule begins; Yaldā Night in Iran

Richard Reid

69 – Roman emperor Vitellius was captured by soldiers loyal to Vespasian and executed at the Gemonian stairs in Rome.
1769 – Having been soundly defeated in battle, the Qing dynasty agreed to terms of truce, ending the Sino-Burmese War.
1920 – The 8th Congress of Soviets approved the GOELRO plan, the first Soviet plan for national economic recovery and development.
1939 – Members of the All-India Muslim League observed a "Day of Deliverance" to celebrate the resignations of members of the Indian National Congress over the decision to enter the Second World War at the request of the United Kingdom.
2001 – Richard Reid (pictured) unsuccessfully attempted to detonate a bomb in his shoe on a transatlantic flight from Paris to Miami, Florida.

Étienne Martellange (b. 1569) · Jean-Victor Poncelet (d. 1867) · Alan Bush (b. 1900)

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Today's featured picture

Teresa Carreño (December 22, 1853 – June 12, 1917) was a Venezuelan pianist, soprano and composer. Her family emigrated to the United States when she was a child, and she made her debut in a piano recital at Irving Hall in New York City at the age of eight. After giving concerts across the northeastern and mid-Atlantic United States, Carreño travelled to Europe with her family in 1866, and performed in France, Spain and Britain, occasionally taking on operatic roles. In her later career, she performed at many venues around Europe and North America, and made concert tours to Australia and New Zealand. She composed approximately 75 works for solo piano, voice and piano, choir and orchestra, and instrumental ensembles.

This photograph of Carreño, taken sometime between 1915 and 1917, shows her at the piano; it is part of the George Grantham Bain Collection, held at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

Photograph credit: unknown; restored by Adam Cuerden

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