Wikipedia:Main Page history/2019 September 26

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From today's featured article

The Louisiana Purchase (shown in white)

The Louisiana Purchase Sesquicentennial half dollar was a proposed United States commemorative coin. Intended for the 150th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase, the coin was lobbied for by the Missouri Historical Society (MHS) and the Louisiana Purchase 150th Anniversary Association of New Orleans, led by Clay Shaw; they hoped to be able to buy the entire coin issue from the government and sell it at a profit. Numismatist Eric P. Newman advocated for the bill on behalf of the MHS. The House of Representatives passed authorizing legislation in April 1953, but the Senate was slower to act, passing it in January 1954. The Treasury Department strongly opposed the bill, and President Dwight D. Eisenhower vetoed it and two other commemorative coin bills on February 3, 1954; Congress made no attempt to override the vetoes. No commemorative coins were authorized or issued by the United States after 1954 until a new issue was authorized in 1981. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Type 273Q atop the mast of HMS Duke of York

... that one of the first microwave radars, the British Type 271 (Type 273Q pictured) on board HMS Duke of York, led to the night-time sinking of the German battleship Scharnhorst?
... that Philadelphia-based physician Charles Sajous, called the "father of American endocrinology", received the French Legion of Honour and the Venezuelan Order of the Liberator?
... that Ng On-yee won the 2018 Women's World Snooker Championship without losing a single frame in all six of her tournament matches?
... that at his death in 1881, Victoriano G. de Ysasi owned a nearly complete collection of the stamps of Spain?
... that after KSJU radio was forced off FM and onto a cable system, students at the College of Saint Benedict could not listen to it on campus, even though their activity fees supported it?
... that Jeni Bojilova-Pateva became a women's rights activist when she was barred from teaching because she was married?
... that the iPhone 11 Pro is the first iPhone to feature a "Pro" designation, which was previously used only for larger Apple devices?
... that just prior to his arrest in 2019, investigative journalist Ivan Golunov was examining the links between Moscow funeral businesses and the Federal Security Service?

In the news

Middlesex Guildhall

The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (building pictured) unanimously rules that the September 2019 prorogation of Parliament was unlawful and void.
Astronomers announce that 2I/Borisov is the first verified interstellar comet, ahead of its closest approach to the Sun on 7 December.
Climate strikes take place in 150 countries as part of the Fridays for Future protests.
The FIBA Basketball World Cup concludes, with Spain defeating Argentina in the final.

On this day

September 26: National Flag Day in Ecuador (1860)

Ruins of the Parthenon

1087 – William II, son of William the Conqueror, was crowned king of England.
1687 – The Parthenon in Athens was partly destroyed (painting of ruins shown) in an explosion while being used as a gunpowder magazine by Ottoman forces during an armed conflict against the Venetians.
1959 – Japan was struck by Typhoon Vera, the strongest and deadliest typhoon on record to make landfall on the country, causing damage in excess of US$261 million and over 5,000 deaths.
1968 – The Beatles completed the recording of John Lennon's song "Happiness Is a Warm Gun", regarded by all the band members as their favourite on the album The Beatles.
2014 – Forty-three students of the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers' College in Iguala, Mexico, were kidnapped and probably later killed.

Richard Grenville-Temple (b. 1711) · Wendy Saddington (b. 1949) · Ramang (d. 1987)

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Today's featured picture

Saints Cosmas and Damian were two Arab physicians, reputedly twin brothers, and early Christian martyrs. They practised their profession in the seaport of Aegeae, then in the Roman province of Syria. Accepting no payment for their services led to them being named anargyroi ('unmercenaries'); it has been said that, by this, they attracted many to the Christian faith. During the persecution under Diocletian, Cosmas and Damian were arrested by order of the prefect of Cilicia, one Lysias who is otherwise unknown, who ordered them under torture to recant. However, according to legend, they stayed true to their faith, enduring being hung on a cross, stoned and shot by arrows and finally suffering execution by beheading. Anthimus, Leontius and Euprepius, their younger brothers, who were inseparable from them throughout life, shared in their martyrdom.

This picture is an icon of Saints Cosmas and Damian, painted by French miniature painter and manuscript illuminator Jean Bourdichon for the Grandes Heures of Anne of Brittany, a book of hours produced in the early 16th century. Cosmas (left) is depicted with a urine bottle, while Damian (right) holds a medicine box. The icon, as well as the book of hours, is in the collection of the Bibliothèque nationale de France.

Icon credit: Jean Bourdichon

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