Notes for Next Meeting:

Since our usual meeting date of the third Monday of the month falls on Victoria Day, the next meeting of the Toronto Coin Club will be Monday May 14, 2012, in Room 302 of Metro Hall (King and John Streets; enter from John St.) – doors open at 7:00 pm for a 7:30 start.

Because of the positive response to the selection of our meeting themes based on historical dates close to the meeting date, we will continue that approach (but suggestions are always welcome!). Once again, I found so many historical dates (with numismatic connections) that I’ve had to be very selective – I hope that you will find one or more that relate to something in your collection, and enjoy reading the list in any case. Our themes will be:

• May 12, 1364 – Jagiellonian University (oldest in Poland) founded in Krakw (Cracow)
• May 12, 1733 – Maria Theresa crowned queen of Bohemia in Prague
• May 12, 1870 – Manitoba becomes a Canadian Province
• May 12, 1885 – Battle of Batoche in North West Rebellion
• May 12, 1937 – coronation of King George VI
• May 13, 1787 – fleet of 11 ships with 1,530 people including 759 convicts leaves Britain to colonize Australia
• May 13, 1830 – Ecuador independence
• May 13, 1940 – Queen Wilhelmina of Netherlands flees German invasion & goes to Britain; Princess Juliana takes her children to Canada for safety
• May 13, 1978 – Joie Chitwood drives a Chevette 5.6 miles on 2 wheels (at least one small medal for this daredevil)
• May 13, 1979 – Shah of Iran and family sentenced to death in Tehran
• May 13, 1981 – Pope John Paul II shot in St. Peter’s Square
• May 14, 1607 – first permanent English settlement in New World, in Jamestown Virginia
• May 14, 1796 – Edward Jenner administers first smallpox vaccination
• May 14, 1811 – Paraguay independence
• May 14, 1904 – first Olympic games in USA opens in St. Louis
• May 14, 1948 – Israel declared an independent state, and attacked by Arab neighbours on May 15
• May 14, 1960 – USSR launches first space capsule (unmanned)
• May 14, 1973 – launch of Skylab, first space station
• May 15, 1701 – start of War of Spanish Succession
• May 15, 1756 – start of Seven Years War
• May 15, 1800 – King George III survives second assassination attempt
• May 15, 1885 – capture of Louis Riel
• May 15, 1918 – Finnish civil war ends
• May 15, 1919 – start of Winnipeg General Strike; almost entire working population walked off the job
• May 15, 1928 – first appearance of Mickey & Minnie Mouse, in “Plane Crazy”
• May 15, 1943 – Warsaw Ghetto uprising ends
• May 15, 1988 – USSR begins troop withdrawal from Afghanistan
• May 16, 1568 – Mary Queen of Scots flees .....
• and, as usual, your recent finds

OK, OK, it’s a long list, and longer than last month, but I couldn’t resist – they are all so interesting and significant, and I’m sure that if you dig hard enough, there is a numismatic connection for each one.
Have some fun with it!
I look forward to seeing you at the meeting.

Regards,

Don