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From today's featured article

Obverse

The New Rochelle 250th Anniversary half dollar is a fifty-cent piece struck by the United States Bureau of the Mint in 1937 as a commemorative coin to mark the 250th anniversary of the settling of New Rochelle in Westchester County, New York. The coin's obverse (pictured) depicts a fatted calf being led by John Pell, who sold the land on which New Rochelle now stands; a "fatt calfe" was to be presented to him annually on June 24 if he asked for it, lest New Rochelle's land be forfeited back to him. The other side shows a fleur-de-lis, an element of the city seal of New Rochelle and of France's La Rochelle, its eponym. The piece is dated 1938 but was minted the previous year. Artist Gertrude K. Lathrop designed the coin; she was hired based on her work on the 1936 Albany Charter half dollar. New Rochelle's coin committee sold the half dollar for $2.00 both locally and by mail order, sending them to all 48 states and internationally, distributing them during 1937 and early 1938. Lathrop's work has been both praised and criticized by numismatic commentators. (Full article...)

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Françoise Hardy

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In the news

Nikol Pashinyan

Apple Daily, the pro-democracy newspaper accused of violating the national security law in Hong Kong, closes.
In cricket, New Zealand defeat India to win the inaugural World Test Championship Final.
In the Armenian parliamentary election, the ruling Civil Contract, led by Nikol Pashinyan (pictured), wins the majority of seats in the National Assembly.
In golf, Jon Rahm wins the U.S. Open.
Ryan Crouser sets a new shot put world record of 23.37 metres (76 ft 8 in).
Ebrahim Raisi is elected president of Iran.

On this day

June 24

"O Canada"

1374 – An outbreak of dancing mania, in which crowds of people danced themselves to exhaustion, began in Aachen (present-day Germany) before spreading to other cities and countries.
1812 – Napoleonic Wars: Led by Napoleon, the French Grande Armée crossed the Neman, beginning their invasion of Russia.
1880 – "O Canada" (audio featured), the present-day national anthem of Canada, was first performed in Quebec City during a Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day banquet.
1937 – The U.S. Navy's first two fast battleships, North Carolina and Washington of the North Carolina class, were ordered from the New York and Philadelphia Naval Shipyards, respectively.
2010 – John Isner defeated Nicolas Mahut at the Wimbledon Championships, concluding the longest match in tennis history, which lasted 11 hours and 5 minutes over three days.

Ernst Heinrich Weber (b. 1795)
Matthew Thornton (d. 1803)
Lionel Messi (b. 1987)

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Today's featured picture

Manila is the capital of the Philippines and a highly urbanized city on the island of Luzon. It is the most densely populated city proper in the world as of 2018. The historic Spanish walled city was founded on June 24, 1571, by the Spanish conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi. This date is regarded as Manila's official founding date, although a settlement dating back as far as 1258 had existed on the site. Alongside Mexico City and Madrid, Manila is considered to be one of the world's original set of global cities due to its commercial networks being the first to traverse the Pacific Ocean; these connected Asia with the Spanish Americas, marking the first time in world history when an uninterrupted chain of trade routes circled the Earth. This map of the city proper of Manila indicates major roads, railways, parks and points of interest, as well as portions of surrounding municipalities.

Map credit: Eugene Alvin Villar

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