The Cleveland Centennial half dollar is a commemorative United States half dollar, dated 1936, issued to mark the 100th anniversary of Cleveland, Ohio, as an incorporated city, and in commemoration of the Great Lakes Exposition, held in Cleveland that year. In the mid-1930s, commemorative coins were increasing in value, and Cincinnati businessman Thomas G. Melish, a coin collector, lobbied Congress to authorize several new issues, for which he would be the sole distributor. He was successful with the Cincinnati Musical Center half dollar and the Cleveland piece, and profited from both. Brenda Putnam designed the Cleveland coin, which was approved by the Commission of Fine Arts after suggestions by sculptor Lee Lawrie. Melish distributed the Cleveland coins through the exposition, at local banks, and by mail order from his office in Cincinnati. Sales were good, and the full authorized mintage of 50,000 was struck at the Philadelphia Mint. (Full article...)

Thromidia catalai

• ... that the starfish Thromidia catalai (pictured) can weigh as much as 6 kilograms (13 lb)?
• ... that the first exhibit of the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame came from founder Michael Lipton's record collection?
• ... that the senior Burmese princes could not attend the funeral of King Mindon since they had all been arrested?
• ... that in 1958, New Jersey assemblyman Carmine Savino proposed cutting property taxes in half by imposing a three-percent state sales tax that would be used to cover public school costs?
• ... that the Greenlandic novel Homo Sapienne was written in only one month?
• ... that when the Marquis Theatre was completed, some Broadway performers boycotted it because of a controversy over the construction of the hotel above it?
• ... that magma travelling through dykes usually solidifies before it gets to the Earth's surface?
• ... that Jonathan Weiner explains in his book how Time, Love, [and] Memory became associated with specific fly genes?

Magdalena Andersson

• Magdalena Andersson (pictured), who resigned a week earlier after one day as designate, is re-elected as Prime Minister of Sweden.
• Barbados becomes a republic, with Sandra Mason replacing Queen Elizabeth II as the head of state.
• In baseball, the Tokyo Yakult Swallows defeat the Orix Buffaloes to win the Japan Series.
• American musical theatre composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim dies at the age of 91.

December 1: World AIDS Day; Great Union Day in Romania (1918)

Francis Walsingham

• 1577 – Francis Walsingham (pictured), Elizabeth I of England's principal secretary and spymaster, was knighted.
• 1821 – On the island of Hispaniola, General José Núñez de Cáceres established the Republic of Spanish Haiti, which only lasted three months.
• 1941 – The Civil Air Patrol, the civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force, was founded.
• 1971 – A period of political and economic reforms known as the Croatian Spring came to an end as the League of Communists of Yugoslavia decided to purge the reformist leadership of Croatia.
• 1991 – More than 92 percent of voters approved the independence of Ukraine as declared on 24 August.