The World of Books Braces for a Newly Ominous Future
By BY ALEXANDRA ALTER from NYT Books https://ift.tt/38Xsy4y
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article for March 17, 2020
Article of the day for March 17, 2020 is William F. Raynolds . William F. Raynolds (March 17, 1820 – October 18, 1894) was an explorer, engineer and army officer who served in the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War. He oversaw the construction of numerous lighthouses; at least six of them are still standing and in use. During the occupation of Mexico in 1848, Raynolds led a party that was the first to summit Pico de Orizaba, the highest mountain in Mexico and believed at that time to be the highest in North America. In 1859, Raynolds was placed in charge of the first government-sponsored expedition into the Yellowstone region. Heavy snowpack prevented the expedition from reaching the Yellowstone Plateau, forcing them to cross Union Pass in the Wind River Range. The expedition then entered Jackson Hole and surveyed the Teton Range, now within Grand Teton National Park. Raynolds retired from the army in 1884 with the rank of colonel after a 40-year career.
An Illustrated Love Song to Jewish Restaurants of Old
By BY DWIGHT GARNER from NYT Books https://ift.tt/2ILSaqy
article for March 16, 2020
Article of the day for March 16, 2020 is Bridgeport, Connecticut, Centennial half dollar . The Bridgeport, Connecticut, Centennial half dollar is a fifty-cent piece issued by the United States Bureau of the Mint in 1936 as a commemorative coin. Designed by Henry Kreis, the obverse (pictured) depicts the showman P. T. Barnum, who was one of Bridgeport's most famous residents, mayor of the city, helped develop it, and is buried there. Bridgeport authorities wanted a commemorative coin, and authorizing legislation passed Congress without opposition. Kreis had designed the Connecticut Tercentenary half dollar (1935), and he produced designs showing Barnum and a modernistic eagle similar to the one on the Connecticut piece. The coins were vended to the public beginning in September 1936 at a price of $2. Too late for most of the centennial celebrations, the coins sold well. Unsold pieces were bought up by coin dealers and wholesale quantities were available on the secondary marke...