Wikipedia:Main Page history/2014 August 31

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Welcome to Wikipedia,
4,593,187 articles in English

From today's featured article

Liberty wearing a Native American headdress

The Indian Head eagle was an American ten-dollar gold piece, or eagle, produced from 1907 until 1916, and then irregularly until 1933. Beginning in 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt proposed the introduction of more artistic designs on US coins, prompting the Mint to hire the sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens to create them. Roosevelt chose a design for the obverse of the eagle (pictured) that the sculptor had meant to use for the cent, and for its reverse he selected a design featuring a standing bald eagle, which had been developed for the twenty-dollar piece designed by Saint-Gaudens. Following the sculptor's death on August 3, 1907, Roosevelt insisted that the new eagle be finished and struck that month, and new pieces were given to the President on August 31. The omission of the motto "In God We Trust" on the new coins caused public outrage, and prompted Congress to pass a bill mandating its inclusion. The Indian Head eagle was struck regularly until 1916, and then intermittently until President Franklin Roosevelt directed the Mint to stop producing gold coins in 1933; many were later melted down. Its termination ended the series of eagles struck for circulation begun in 1795. (Full article...)

Recently featured: Clackline Bridge – 2007 Appalachian State vs. Michigan football game – Creek Turnpike

Did you know...

From Wikipedia's new and recently improved content:

Mountain parakeet on cactus

In the news

Landslide damage in Hiroshima

Ongoing: Ebola outbreak Ukrainian conflict
Recent deaths: Richard Attenborough U. R. Ananthamurthy

On this day...

August 31: Independence Day in Malaysia (1957) and Trinidad and Tobago (1962)

Interior view of Kinetoscope with peephole viewer

More anniversaries: August 30 August 31 September 1

It is now August 31, 2014 (UTC) – Reload this page

Today's featured picture

Neurological diagram of a scallop

This image represents a view from the "front" of the neural system of a giant scallop, slightly turned, with the shell or "valve" hinge line at the top and open free margin along the bottom (this image shows what most observers might think of as a "side view" or "edge view"— see inset for orientation). The largest, most important ganglia are the parietovisceral (not the cerebral) which connect to the circumpallial nerve somewhat like an axle connects via spokes to the rim of a wheel. The circumpallial nerve forms a complete folded double ring around the edge of the animal's disk-like mantle inside each valve (mantle not shown here). The hundreds of nerves of the scallop's eyes and tentacles would have appeared as long thin lines jutting off along the entire length of this nerve like hazy fringe.

Diagram: K.D. Schroeder

Other areas of Wikipedia

  • Community portal – Bulletin board, projects, resources and activities covering a wide range of Wikipedia areas.
  • Help desk – Ask questions about using Wikipedia.
  • Local embassy – For Wikipedia-related communication in languages other than English.
  • Reference desk – Serving as virtual librarians, Wikipedia volunteers tackle your questions on a wide range of subjects.
  • Site news – Announcements, updates, articles and press releases on Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation.
  • Village pump – For discussions about Wikipedia itself, including areas for technical issues and policies.

Wikipedia's sister projects

Wikipedia is hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit organization that also hosts a range of other projects: