Sunday, September 27, 2009

Answer of the Day
Whose face is on the front of the US $100 bill? That honor goes to Benjamin Franklin; it is one of two bills to show the image of someone other than a US president. The other is the US $10 bill, which sports a portrait of Alexander Hamilton. On September 27, 1995, the government unveiled a redesigned US $100 bill. In an attempt to deter counterfeiters, new features included a watermark of Franklin and optically variable ink that changes color when viewed at different angles. The government has announced plans to release another version of the C-note, this time including a security thread made up of some 650,000 tiny lenses and microprinting. According to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, a US $100 bill has an average lifespan of five years before it is replaced due to wear.

Quote
"Wealth is not his that has it, but his that enjoys it." — Benjamin Franklin

Word of the day
chunter

Brit. to mutter, murmur; to grumble, find fault, complain (also chunner)

(© Michael A. Fischer)

Today's History

Society of Jesus Founder Ignatius Loyola

• Society of Jesus: the Jesuits' order was chartered by Pope Paul III (1540)
• Locomotion No. 1: steam-powered locomotive hauled its first passenger train on England's Stockton and Darlington line (1825)
• Warren Commission: government investigative team concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in assassinating President John F. Kennedy (1964)
• NC-17: rating for adult-oriented films was introduced by the MPAA (1990)
• Taliban: a group of Islamic religious students captured Afghanistan's capital, Kabul (1996)

Today's Birthdays

Thomas Nast, Self-Portrait

• Samuel Adams (1722-1803): American Revolutionary leader, signer of the Declaration of Independence
• Thomas Nast (1840-1902): caricaturist who came up with the symbols of the Republican and Democratic Parties
• Harry Blackstone (1885-1965): magician
• Kathleen Nolan (76): the Screen Actors Guild's first female president; also, actors Jayne Meadows (89), Sada Thompson (80), Wilford Brimley (75), Liz Torres (62), A Martinez (61), Patrick Muldoon (41) and Amanda Detmer (38) and Gwyneth Paltrow (37)
• Avril Lavigne (25): punk/rock singer of "Sk8er Boi" and "Girlfriend"; other musicians born on this date include Bud Powell (1924-1966), Randy Bachman (66), Meat Loaf (62), Shaun Cassidy (51) and Lil' Wayne (27)