From today's featured article
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![Franklin Peale](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8a/Franklin_Peale.jpg/100px-Franklin_Peale.jpg)
Franklin Peale (1795–1870) was an employee and officer of the Philadelphia Mint from 1833 to 1854. He was the son of painter Charles Willson Peale, and was born in the museum of curiosities that his father ran in Philadelphia. For the most part, Franklin Peale's education was informal, though he took some classes at the University of Pennsylvania. He became adept in machine making. In 1820, he became an assistant to his father at the museum, and managed it after Charles Peale's death in 1827. In 1833, Peale was hired by the Mint of the United States, and was sent for two years to Europe to study and report back on coining techniques. He returned with plans for improvement, and designed the first steam-powered coinage press in the United States, installed in 1836. Peale was made Melter and Refiner of the Philadelphia Mint that year, and Chief Coiner three years later upon the retirement of the incumbent, Adam Eckfeldt, who continued in his work without pay. Eckfeldt's labor allowed Peale to run a medal business using Mint property. This sideline eventually caused Peale's downfall: conflicts with Engraver James B. Longacre and Melter and Refiner Richard Sears McCulloh led to Peale being accused of misconduct, and he was dismissed by President Franklin Pierce in 1854. In retirement, Peale continued his involvement in and leadership of many civic organizations; he died in 1870. (Full article...)
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Did you know...
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From Wikipedia's new and recently improved content:
- ... that the Alexandria, Virginia mansion Colross (pictured) was disassembled and transported to Princeton, New Jersey, where it serves as a Princeton Day School administration building?
- ... that in China, the production, management and sales of all edible salt is regulated by a state-owned monopoly enterprise?
- ... that the Church of St Cuthbert by the Forest in Mouldsworth, Cheshire, has a detached campanile?
- ... that the death of Polish Army chaplain Ignacy Skorupka at the battle of Warsaw became a political tool for opponents of military commander Józef Piłsudski?
- ... that Star Film was unable to complete its sixth film due to the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies?
- ... that a version of the astro pop cocktail is layered with red, white, and blue colors, and served in a shot glass?
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In the news
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On this day...
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April 14: Fast of the Firstborn begins at dawn and Passover begins at sunset (Judaism, 2014); Cambodian New Year, Tamil New Year, and other New Year festivals in Asia (2014); Day of the Georgian language in Georgia (1978)
- 966 – After his marriage to the Christian Dobrawa of Bohemia, the pagan ruler of the Polans, Mieszko I, converted to Christianity, an event considered to be the founding of the Polish state.
- 1471 – Wars of the Roses: The Yorkists under Edward IV defeated the Lancastrians near the town of Barnet, killing Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick.
- 1944 – The freighter SS Fort Stikine carrying a mixed cargo of cotton bales, gold, and ammunition exploded in the harbour in Bombay, India, sinking surrounding ships and killing about 800 people.
- 1967 – After leading a military coup three months earlier, Gnassingbé Eyadéma (pictured) installed himself as President of Togo, a post which he held until 2005.
- 1994 – In a friendly fire incident during Operation Provide Comfort in northern Iraq, two US Air Force aircraft mistakenly shot down two US Army helicopters, killing 26 people.
More anniversaries: April 13 – April 14 – April 15
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