The United States Assay Commission was an agency of the United States government from 1792 to 1980. Its function was to annually supervise the testing of the gold, silver, and (in its final years) base metal coins produced by the United States Mint to ensure that they met specifications. The Mint Act of 1792 authorized the Assay Commission. Beginning in 1797, it met in most years at the Philadelphia Mint. Each year, the President of the United States appointed unpaid members, who would gather in Philadelphia to ensure the weight and fineness of silver and gold coins issued the previous year were to specifications. Although some members were designated by statute, for the most part the commission, which was freshly appointed each year, consisted of prominent Americans, including numismatists. Appointment to the Assay Commission was eagerly sought after—for one thing, commissioners received a commemorative medal, different each year, and, with the exception of the 1977 issue which was sold to the general public, extremely rare. In 1971, the commission met, but for the first time had no gold or silver to test, with the end of silver coinage for circulation. Beginning in 1977, President Jimmy Carter appointed no members of the public to the commission, and in 1980, he signed legislation abolishing it. (Full article...)

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From Wikipedia's newest content:

• ... that in 2012, Fiona Apple (pictured) recorded "Dull Tool", her first original song written for a film soundtrack, for the comedy film This Is 40?
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• ... that Wil Wheaton won more awards for Star Trek: The Next Generation than any other cast member?
  
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• North Korea conducts a nuclear weapons test.
• Pope Benedict XVI announces that he will resign as leader of the Catholic Church at the end of February.
• Thirty-six people are killed and thirty-nine injured in a stampede in Allahabad, India, during the Kumbh Mela festival.
• At the Grammy Awards, Gotye wins Record of the Year and Mumford & Sons wins Album of the Year.
• In association football, the Africa Cup of Nations concludes with Nigeria defeating Burkina Faso in the final.
• Argo wins three awards, including Best Film, at the 66th British Academy Film Awards.
• A blizzard disrupts transportation and leaves hundreds of thousands of people without electricity in the Northeastern United States and parts of Canada.

Recent deaths: Zhuang Zedong

February 13: Ash Wednesday in Western Christianity (2013)

• 1660 – The five-year-old Charles XI became King of Sweden.
• 1867 – Work began on the covering of the Senne (pictured), burying the polluted main waterway in Brussels to allow urban renewal in the centre of the city.
• 1945 – World War II: The Allies began their strategic bombing of Dresden, Saxony, Germany, resulting in a lethal firestorm which killed tens of thousands of civilians.
• 1961 – American geode prospectors discovered what they claimed was a 500,000-year-old rock with a spark plug encased inside it.
• 1978 – A bomb exploded outside the Hilton Hotel in Sydney, the site of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, killing three people and injuring eleven others.

More anniversaries: February 12 – February 13 – February 14

A nude study in autochrome by Arnold Genthe. Autochrome was patented by the Lumière brothers in 1903 and became the dominant colour photography process for over two decades. It used dyed potato starch in its plates to provide colour. Because of additional filters necessary for the process, it required longer exposure than black-and-white plates. Photograph: Arnold Genthe; Restoration: Chick Bowen Recently featured: Marabou Stork – Cathedral of Christ the Savior – Canon EOS 5D Mark II Archive – More featured pictures...