Wikipedia:Main Page history/2012 January 31

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Liberty head nickel, obverse side, showing Liberty wearing a coronet and wreath

The Liberty Head nickel was an American five-cent piece. It was struck for circulation from 1883 until 1912, with at least five pieces being surreptitiously struck dated 1913. The original copper–nickel five-cent piece, the Shield nickel, had longstanding production problems, and in the early 1880s, the United States Mint was looking to replace it. Mint Chief Engraver Charles Barber was instructed to prepare designs for proposed one-, three-, and five-cent pieces, which were to bear similar designs. Only the new five-cent piece was approved, and went into production in 1883. For almost thirty years large quantities of coin of this design were produced to meet commercial demand, especially as coin-operated machines became increasingly popular. Beginning in 1911, the Mint began work to replace the Liberty head design, and a new design, which became known as the Buffalo nickel, went into production in February 1913. Although no 1913 Liberty head nickels were officially struck, five are known to exist. While it is uncertain how these pieces originated, they have come to be among the most expensive coins in the world, with one selling in 2010 for $3,737,500. (more...)

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  • In the news

  • The European Men's Handball Championship concludes with Denmark defeating Serbia in the final.
  • The European Union and 22 member nations sign the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, resulting in the resignation of the treaty's rapporteur and protests across Poland.
  • Intense Tropical Cyclone Funso (pictured) stalls off the coast of Mozambique, killing 15 people at sea and at least 14 others through inland flooding.
  • The European Union imposes an embargo on future oil contracts with Iran.
  • British novelist Salman Rushdie cancels an appearance at the Jaipur Literature Festival in India, and four other writers leave the city after reading excerpts from The Satanic Verses, which is banned in the country.
  • On this day...

    January 31: Independence Day in Nauru (1968)

    Ham the Chimp

  • 1747 – The London Lock Hospital, the first clinic specialising in the treatment of venereal diseases, opened.
  • 1919Intense rioting over labour conditions broke out in Glasgow, Scotland, and was only quelled when the British government sent tanks to restore order.
  • 1942Second World War: Allied forces retreated from British Malaya to Singapore, ceding control of the country to Japan.
  • 1961 – Aboard NASA's Mercury-Redstone 2, Ham, a chimpanzee (pictured), became the first hominid launched into outer space.
  • 1996 – Japanese amateur astronomer Yuji Hyakutake discovered Comet Hyakutake, which was one of the closest cometary approaches of the previous 200 years.
  • 2001 – Scottish judges sitting in court in the Netherlands convicted Libyan national Abdelbaset al-Megrahi of 270 counts of murder in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.
  • More anniversaries: January 30 January 31 February 1

    It is now January 31, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page

    Today's featured picture

    Autofluorescence in tissue paper

    A light microscope image of tissue paper. The tissue was illuminated with ultraviolet light making it glow blue due to natural autofluorescence, the same effect which makes paper glow with a black light. The tangled network of fibres are cellulose fibres which are derived from wood and make up all types of paper and cardboard. It is a combination of the properties of cellulose and additional optical brightening agents which makes the tissue glow.

    Photo: Richard Wheeler

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