Maya Angelou (Marguerite Annie Johnson)
(April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States Mint said Monday it has
begun shipping quarters featuring the image of poet Maya Angelou,
the first coins in its American Women Quarters Program.

Angelou, an American author, poet and Civil Rights activist, rose
to prominence with the publication of "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" in 1969. Angelou, who died in 2014 at the age of 86, was
honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2010 by
President Barack Obama.

Six months after the congress of the Republic of Texas accepted
the United States annexation of the territory, Texas was admitted
into the U.S. as the 28th state.

The Annexation of Texas to the Union, by Donald M. Yena, 1986.

SANDY KOZEL

On this day in 1964, U.S. Surgeon General Luther Terry (above) 
released a report that said that smoking cigarettes was a definite
health hazard.

Amelia Earhart Putnam became the first woman to fly solo from
Wheeler Field in Honolulu, Hawaii to Oakland Airport in Oakland,
California on this day in 1935.

Amelia in Oakland, triumphant after the Hawaii-to-California flight.

Amelia Mary Earhart, (born July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937)

(Fox News) – An extremely rare U.S. currency note from the late 19th century
is expected to sell for up to $3 million when it is auctioned next year.

The 1891 $1,000 Silver Certificate is the only bill of its kind believed to exist
in private hands, according to auction house Stack’s Bowers Galleries. Known
as the Marcy note, the bill features the portrait of former New York Governor
William L. Marcy, who served as a senator and as secretary of war under
President James Knox Polk.    

Stack’s Bowers Galleries notes that the Marcy note is sometimes considered
the “unicorn” of U.S. money thanks to its unique design. The bill, which has
an estimated pre-sale value of $2 million to $3 million, is being offered at
auction for the first time.

The note will be auctioned at the Whitman Spring Expo, which takes place in Baltimore between Feb. 28 and March 3.

ROSS SIMPSON

Susan Brownell Anthony (February 15, 1820 – March 13, 1906)