The United States Bicentennial coins are commemorative versions of the
Washington quarter,
Kennedy half dollar and
Eisenhower dollar(pictured). They bear the double date 1776–1976, though some were struck in 1975 as well as 1976. The
US Mint had opposed issuing
commemorative coins since the 1950s, but beginning in 1971, members of Congress introduced bills authorizing coins to honor the
Bicentennial. New legislation required the temporary redesign of the
reverse of the quarter, half dollar and dollar; a nationwide competition yielded designs of a Colonial drummer for the quarter,
Independence Hall for the half dollar, and the
Liberty Bell superimposed against the moon for the dollar. The coins that circulated were in copper nickel, and so many were struck that they remain common today. Congress also mandated that 45,000,000 part-silver pieces be available for collectors; the Mint sold over half before withdrawing them from sale in 1986 and melting the remainder. (
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Nicholas Winton(pictured), dubbed the "British
Schindler" for saving more than 600 children – the majority Jewish – from the Nazis, dies at the age of 106.
1945 – The Brazilian cruiser Bahia was accidentally sunk by one of its own crewmen, killing more than 300 and stranding the rest in shark-infested waters.
2005 – The
NASA space probe Deep Impact impacted (pictured) the
nucleus of the comet
Tempel 1, excavating debris from its interior so that its composition could be studied.
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