1.
Che Guevara
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Ernesto Che Guevara was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and military theorist. A major figure of the Cuban Revolution, his stylized visage has become a ubiquitous symbol of rebellion. As a young student, Guevara traveled throughout South America and was radicalized by the poverty, hunger. Guevara soon rose to prominence among the insurgents, was promoted to second-in-command, following the Cuban Revolution, Guevara performed a number of key roles in the new government. Additionally, he was a writer and diarist, composing a seminal manual on guerrilla warfare. Guevara left Cuba in 1965 to foment revolution abroad, first unsuccessfully in Congo-Kinshasa and later in Bolivia, Guevara remains both a revered and reviled historical figure, polarized in the collective imagination in a multitude of biographies, memoirs, essays, documentaries, songs, and films. In accordance with the flexibility allowed in Spanish naming customs, his name will sometimes appear with de la Serna and/or Lynch accompanying it. Referring to Ches restless nature, his father declared the first thing to note is that in my sons veins flowed the blood of the Irish rebels, very early on in life, Ernestito developed an affinity for the poor. Growing up in a family with leftist leanings, Guevara was introduced to a spectrum of political perspectives even as a boy. His father, a supporter of Republicans from the Spanish Civil War. He was a rugby union player, and played at fly-half for Club Universitario de Buenos Aires. His rugby playing earned him the nickname Fuser—a contraction of El Furibundo and his mothers surname, Guevara learned chess from his father and began participating in local tournaments by age 12. He could also recite Rudyard Kiplings If— and José Hernándezs Martín Fierro by heart. Additionally, he enjoyed the works of Jawaharlal Nehru, Franz Kafka, Albert Camus, Vladimir Lenin, and Jean-Paul Sartre, as well as Anatole France, Friedrich Engels, H. G. Wells, and Robert Frost. As he grew older, he developed an interest in the Latin American writers Horacio Quiroga, Ciro Alegría, Jorge Icaza, Rubén Darío, many of these authors ideas he cataloged in his own handwritten notebooks of concepts, definitions, and philosophies of influential intellectuals. These included composing analytical sketches of Buddha and Aristotle, along with examining Bertrand Russell on love and patriotism, Jack London on society, sigmund Freuds ideas fascinated him as he quoted him on a variety of topics from dreams and libido to narcissism and the Oedipus complex. His favorite subjects in school included philosophy, mathematics, engineering, political science, sociology, history, in 1948, Guevara entered the University of Buenos Aires to study medicine. The first expedition in 1950 was a 4, 500-kilometer solo trip through the provinces of northern Argentina on a bicycle on which he installed a small engine
2.
Cuba
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Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is a country comprising the island of Cuba as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located in the northern Caribbean where the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and it is south of both the U. S. state of Florida and the Bahamas, west of Haiti, and north of Jamaica. Havana is the largest city and capital, other cities include Santiago de Cuba. Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean, with an area of 109,884 square kilometres, prior to Spanish colonization in the late 15th century, Cuba was inhabited by Amerindian tribes. It remained a colony of Spain until the Spanish–American War of 1898, as a fragile republic, Cuba attempted to strengthen its democratic system, but mounting political radicalization and social strife culminated in the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in 1952. Further unrest and instability led to Batistas ousting in January 1959 by the July 26 Movement, since 1965, the state has been governed by the Communist Party of Cuba. A point of contention during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, a nuclear war broke out during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Culturally, Cuba is considered part of Latin America, Cuba is a Marxist–Leninist one-party republic, where the role of the vanguard Communist Party is enshrined in the Constitution. Independent observers have accused the Cuban government of human rights abuses. It is one of the worlds last planned economies and its economy is dominated by the exports of sugar, tobacco, coffee, according to the Human Development Index, Cuba is described as a country with high human development and is ranked the eighth highest in North America. It also ranks highly in some metrics of national performance, including health care, the name Cuba comes from the Taíno language. The exact meaning of the name is unclear but it may be translated either as where fertile land is abundant, authors who believe that Christopher Columbus was Portuguese state that Cuba was named by Columbus for the town of Cuba in the district of Beja in Portugal. Before the arrival of the Spanish, Cuba was inhabited by three distinct tribes of indigenous peoples of the Americas, the Taíno, the Guanajatabey, and the Ciboney people. The ancestors of the Ciboney migrated from the mainland of South America, the Taíno arrived from Hispanola sometime in the 3rd century A. D. When Columbus arrived they were the dominant culture in Cuba, having a population of 150,000. The name Cuba comes from the native Taíno language and it is derived from either coabana meaning great place, or from cubao meaning where fertile land is abundant. The Taíno were farmers, while the Ciboney were farmers as well as fishers and hunter-gatherers, Columbus claimed the island for the new Kingdom of Spain and named it Isla Juana after Juan, Prince of Asturias. In 1511, the first Spanish settlement was founded by Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar at Baracoa, other towns soon followed, including San Cristobal de la Habana, founded in 1515, which later became the capital
3.
Central bank
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A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages a states currency, money supply, and interest rates. Central banks also usually oversee the commercial banking system of their respective countries, Central banks in most developed nations are institutionally designed to be independent from political interference. Still, limited control by the executive and legislative bodies usually exists, prior to the 17th century most money was commodity money, typically gold or silver. However, promises to pay were widely circulated and accepted as value at least five hundred years earlier in both Europe and Asia. The Song dynasty was the first to issue generally circulating paper currency, in 1455, in an effort to control inflation, the succeeding Ming Dynasty ended the use of paper money and closed much of Chinese trade. The Bank of Amsterdam, established in the Dutch Republic in 1609, is considered to be the forerunner to modern central banks. The Wisselbanks innovations helped lay the foundations for the birth and development of the banking system that now plays a vital role in the worlds economy. Along with a number of local banks, it performed many functions of a central banking system. Lucien Gillard calls it the European guilder, and Adam Smith devotes many pages to explaining how the bank guilder works, the model of the Wisselbank as a state bank was adapted throughout Europe, including the Bank of Sweden and the Bank of England. Established by Dutch-Latvian Johan Palmstruch in 1668, Sveriges Riksbank is often considered by many as the worlds oldest central bank, the lenders would give the government cash and also issue notes against the government bonds, which could be lent again. A Royal Charter was granted on 27 July through the passage of the Tonnage Act 1694, the bank was given exclusive possession of the governments balances, and was the only limited-liability corporation allowed to issue banknotes. The £1. 2M was raised in 12 days, half of this was used to rebuild the Navy and these modern central banking functions evolved slowly through the 18th and 19th centuries. The currency crisis of 1797, caused by panicked depositors withdrawing from the Bank led to the government suspending convertibility of notes into specie payment. The bank was accused by the bullionists of causing the exchange rate to fall from over issuing banknotes. Nevertheless, it was clear that the Bank was being treated as an organ of the state, henry Thornton, a merchant banker and monetary theorist has been described as the father of the modern central bank. An opponent of the real bills doctrine, he was a defender of the bullionist position, thorntons process of monetary expansion anticipated the theories of Knut Wicksell regarding the cumulative process which restates the Quantity Theory in a theoretically coherent form. Until the mid-nineteenth century, commercial banks were able to issue their own banknotes, many consider the origins of the central bank to lie with the passage of the Bank Charter Act of 1844. Under this law, authorisation to issue new banknotes was restricted to the Bank of England, at the same time, the Bank of England was restricted to issue new banknotes only if they were 100% backed by gold or up to £14 million in government debt
4.
Spanish real
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The real was a unit of currency in Spain for several centuries after the mid-14th century, but changed in value relative to other units introduced. In 1864, the real was replaced by a new escudo, then by the peseta in 1868, the first real was introduced by King Pedro I of Castile in the mid 14th century at a value of 3 maravedíes. This rate of exchange increased until 1497, when the real, the famous piece of eight, also known as the Spanish dollar, was issued that same year as a trade coin. It later became widespread in North America and Asia, in 1566, the gold escudo was introduced, worth 16 silver reales. The piece of eight was so-called because the denomination was divided into eight silver reales. In addition to the piece of eight, which was a silver coin, other coins based on it were issued,4 reales,2 reales,1 real. During this period, Spanish trade coinage became popular in trade and commerce. In 1642, two distinct reales were created, the real de plata and the real de vellón, the exchange rate between these two coins was set at 2 reales de vellón =1 real de plata. The maravedí was tied to the real de vellón, causing the real de plata to be worth 68 maravedíes, the gold escudo was worth 16 reales de plata. The real de vellón was issued for use in Spain. The real de plata fuerte was introduced in 1737 at a value of 2 1⁄2 reales de vellón or 85 maravedíes and this real was the standard, issued as coins until the early 19th century. The gold escudo was worth 16 reales de plata fuerte, in 1808, coins were introduced denominated in real de vellón. These coins circulated alongside real de plata fuerte and escudo coins until decimalization, Coins denominated in reales de plata were minted until 1837, whilst maravedí coins were issued until 1850. The real de vellón, now just called the real, was adopted as the unit in Spains first decimal currency. To begin with, subsidiary pieces were issued denominated in decima de real, later they were denominated in céntimo de real. The real replaced the Catalan peseta in 1850, at a rate of 1 peseta =4 reales, in 1864, the real was replaced by a new escudo worth 10 reales. This second escudo was replaced in 1868 by the peseta at a rate of 1 peseta =0.4 escudos =4 reales. Consequently, the real lived on, meaning a quarter of a peseta
5.
Soviet ruble
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The Soviet ruble was the currency of the Soviet Union. One ruble was divided into 100 kopeks, many of the ruble designs were created by Ivan Dubasov. In 1991, after the breakup of the Soviet Union, the Soviet ruble continued to be used in the Post-Soviet states, forming a ruble zone, the word ruble is derived from the Slavic verb рубить, rubit, i. e. to chop. Historically, ruble was a piece of a certain weight chopped off a silver ingot, the word kopek, kopeck, copeck, or kopeyka is a diminutive form of the Russian kopyo — a spear. The Soviet currency had its own name in all Soviet languages, sometimes different from its Russian designation. All banknotes had the name and their nominal printed in the languages of every Soviet Republic. This naming is preserved in modern Russia, for example, Tatar for ruble and kopek are sum, the current names of several currencies of Central Asia are simply the local names of the ruble. Finnish last appeared on 1947 banknotes since the Karelo-Finnish SSR was dissolved in 1956, moldovan has switched to Latin and is once again referred to as Romanian. The first ruble issued for the Socialist government was an issue still based on the previous issue of the ruble prior to the Russian Revolution of 1917. They are all in form and started their issue in 1919. At this time other issues were made by the white Russian government and other governing bodies. Denominations are as follows,1,2,3,5,10,15,25,50,60,100,250,500,1,000,5,000,10,000,25,000,50,000,100,000. Short term treasury certificate were also issued to supplement banknote issue in 1 million,5 million,10 million rubles. These issue was printed in various fashions, as inflation crept up the security features were few and some were printed on one side, as was the case for the German inflationary notes. In 1918, state notes were introduced by the R. S. F. S. R. for 1,3,5,10,25,50,100,250,500,1,000,5,000 and 10,000 rubles. These were followed in 1919 by currency notes for 1,2,3,15,20,60,100,250,500,1000,5000 and 10,000 rubles. In 1921, currency note denominations of 5,50,25,000,50,000,100,000,1,000,000,5,000,000 and 10,000,000 rubles were added. In 1922, the first of several redenominations took place, at a rate of 1 new ruble for 10,000 old rubles, the chervonets was also introduced in 1922
6.
United States embargo against Cuba
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The United States embargo against Cuba is a commercial, economic, and financial embargo imposed by the United States on Cuba. An embargo was first imposed by the United States on sale of arms to Cuba on March 14,1958, during the Fulgencio Batista regime. Again on October 19,1960 the U. S. placed an embargo on exports to Cuba except for food, on February 7,1962 the embargo was extended to include almost all imports. The stated purpose of the Cuban Democracy Act of 1992 is to maintain sanctions on Cuba so long as the Cuban government refuses to move toward democratization and greater respect for human rights. In 1999, President Bill Clinton expanded the embargo by also disallowing foreign subsidiaries of U. S. companies to trade with Cuba. In 2000, Clinton authorized the sale of humanitarian U. S. products to Cuba, despite the Spanish-language term bloqueo, there has been no physical, naval blockade of the country by the United States after the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. The United States does not block Cubas trade with third parties, other countries are not under the jurisdiction of U. S. domestic laws, such as the Cuban Democracy Act. Cuba can, and does, conduct trade with many third-party countries. Beyond criticisms of Human rights in Cuba, the United States holds $6 billion worth of financial claims against the Cuban government, the pro-embargo position is that the U. S. embargo is, in part, an appropriate response to these unaddressed claims. The Latin America Working Group argues that pro-embargo Cuban-American exiles, whose votes are crucial in Florida, have swayed many politicians to adopt similar views. The Cuban-American views have been opposed by business leaders who argue that trading freely would be good for Cuba. At present, the embargo, which limits American businesses from conducting business with Cuban interests, is still in effect and is the most enduring trade embargo in modern history, despite the existence of the embargo, the United States is the fifth largest exporter to Cuba. Cuba must, however, pay cash for all imports, as credit is not allowed, Human rights groups including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights have also been critical of the embargo. Critics of the say that the embargo laws are too harsh. The United States imposed an embargo on Cuba on March 14,1958 during the armed conflict between rebels led by Fidel Castro and the Fulgencio Batista regime. The arms embargo had more of an impact on Batista than the rebels, Congress does not want to lift the embargo. In May 1960, the Cuban government began to purchase regular armaments from the Soviet Union. In July 1960, the United States reduced the Cuban import quota of sugar to 700,000 tons, under the Sugar Act of 1948
7.
Soviet Union
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The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a socialist state in Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991. It was nominally a union of national republics, but its government. The Soviet Union had its roots in the October Revolution of 1917 and this established the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and started the Russian Civil War between the revolutionary Reds and the counter-revolutionary Whites. In 1922, the communists were victorious, forming the Soviet Union with the unification of the Russian, Transcaucasian, Ukrainian, following Lenins death in 1924, a collective leadership and a brief power struggle, Joseph Stalin came to power in the mid-1920s. Stalin suppressed all opposition to his rule, committed the state ideology to Marxism–Leninism. As a result, the country underwent a period of rapid industrialization and collectivization which laid the foundation for its victory in World War II and postwar dominance of Eastern Europe. Shortly before World War II, Stalin signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact agreeing to non-aggression with Nazi Germany, in June 1941, the Germans invaded the Soviet Union, opening the largest and bloodiest theater of war in history. Soviet war casualties accounted for the highest proportion of the conflict in the effort of acquiring the upper hand over Axis forces at battles such as Stalingrad. Soviet forces eventually captured Berlin in 1945, the territory overtaken by the Red Army became satellite states of the Eastern Bloc. The Cold War emerged by 1947 as the Soviet bloc confronted the Western states that united in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949. Following Stalins death in 1953, a period of political and economic liberalization, known as de-Stalinization and Khrushchevs Thaw, the country developed rapidly, as millions of peasants were moved into industrialized cities. The USSR took a lead in the Space Race with Sputnik 1, the first ever satellite, and Vostok 1. In the 1970s, there was a brief détente of relations with the United States, the war drained economic resources and was matched by an escalation of American military aid to Mujahideen fighters. In the mid-1980s, the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, sought to reform and liberalize the economy through his policies of glasnost. The goal was to preserve the Communist Party while reversing the economic stagnation, the Cold War ended during his tenure, and in 1989 Soviet satellite countries in Eastern Europe overthrew their respective communist regimes. This led to the rise of strong nationalist and separatist movements inside the USSR as well, in August 1991, a coup détat was attempted by Communist Party hardliners. It failed, with Russian President Boris Yeltsin playing a role in facing down the coup. On 25 December 1991, Gorbachev resigned and the twelve constituent republics emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union as independent post-Soviet states
8.
Dissolution of the Soviet Union
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The Soviet Union was dissolved on December 26,1991. It was a result of the declaration number 142-Н of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union and that evening at 7,32, the Soviet flag was lowered from the Kremlin for the last time and replaced with the pre-revolutionary Russian flag. Previously, from August to December, all the individual republics, the week before the unions formal dissolution,11 republics signed the Alma-Ata Protocol formally establishing the CIS and declaring that the Soviet Union had ceased to exist. The Revolutions of 1989 and the dissolution of the USSR also signalled the end of the Cold War, on the other hand, only the Baltic states have joined NATO and the European Union. Mikhail Gorbachev was elected General Secretary by the Politburo on March 11,1985, Gorbachev, aged 54, was the youngest member of the Politburo. His initial goal as general secretary was to revive the Soviet economy, the reforms began with personnel changes of senior Brezhnev-era officials who would impede political and economic change. On April 23,1985, Gorbachev brought two protégés, Yegor Ligachev and Nikolai Ryzhkov, into the Politburo as full members. He kept the power ministries happy by promoting KGB Head Viktor Chebrikov from candidate to full member and this liberalisation, however, fostered nationalist movements and ethnic disputes within the Soviet Union. Under Gorbachevs leadership, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1989 introduced limited competitive elections to a new central legislature, in May 1985, Gorbachev delivered a speech in Leningrad advocating reforms and an anti-alcohol campaign to tackle widespread alcoholism. Prices of vodka, wine, and beer were raised in order to make these drinks more expensive and a disincentive to consumers, unlike most forms of rationing intended to conserve scarce goods, this was done to restrict sales with the overt goal of curtailing drunkenness. Gorbachevs plan also included billboards promoting sobriety, increased penalties for public drunkenness, however, Gorbachev soon faced the same adverse economic reaction to his prohibition as did the last Tsar. The disincentivization of alcohol consumption was a blow to the state budget according to Alexander Yakovlev. Alcohol production migrated to the market, or through moonshining as some made bathtub vodka with homegrown potatoes. The purpose of these reforms, however, was to prop up the centrally planned economy, unlike later reforms. The latter, disparaged as Mr Nyet in the West, had served for 28 years as Minister of Foreign Affairs, gromyko was relegated to the largely ceremonial position of Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, as he was considered an old thinker. In the fall of 1985, Gorbachev continued to bring younger, at the next Central Committee meeting on October 15, Tikhonov retired from the Politburo and Talyzin became a candidate. Finally, on December 23,1985, Gorbachev appointed Yeltsin First Secretary of the Moscow Communist Party replacing Viktor Grishin, Gorbachev continued to press for greater liberalization. The CTAG Helsinki-86 was founded in July 1986 in the Latvian port town of Liepāja by three workers, Linards Grantiņš, Raimonds Bitenieks, and Mārtiņš Bariss and its name refers to the human-rights statements of the Helsinki Accords
9.
Special Period
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The economic depression of the Special Period was at its most severe in the early to mid-1990s before slightly declining in severity towards the end of the decade. People were forced to live without many goods they had used to. The dissolution of the Soviet Union hit the Cuban economy severely, the country lost approximately 80% of its imports, 80% of its exports and its Gross Domestic Product dropped by 34%. Food and medicine imports stopped or severely slowed, the largest immediate impact was the loss of nearly all of the petroleum imports from the USSR, Cubas oil imports dropped to 10% of pre-1990 amounts. Before this, Cuba had been re-exporting any Soviet petroleum it did not consume to other nations for profit, entirely dependent on fossil fuels to operate, the major underpinnings of Cuban society—its transport, industrial and agricultural systems—were paralyzed. The early stages of the Special Period were defined by a breakdown in transportation and agricultural sectors, fertilizer and pesticide stocks. Organic agriculture was soon mandated by the Cuban government, supplanting the old industrialized form of agriculture Cubans had grown accustomed to. Relocalization, permaculture, and innovative modes of mass transit had to be rapidly developed, at the time, United States law allowed humanitarian aid in the form of food and medicine by private groups. Alternative transport, most notably the Cuban camels—immense 18-wheeler tractor trailers retrofitted as passenger buses meant to carry hundreds of Cubans each—flourished, food-wise, meat and dairy products, having been extremely fossil fuel dependent in their former factory farming methods, soon diminished in the Cuban diet. The Cuban government also focused more intensely on cooperation with Venezuela once the socialist Hugo Chávez was elected president in 1998, Cubans had to resort to eating anything they could find. In the Havana zoo, The peacocks, the buffalo and even the rhea were reported to have disappeared, Cuban domestic cats disappeared from streets to dinner tables. Cows in the island were eaten, before 1959, Cuba boasted as many cattle as people. Today meat is so scarce that it is a crime to kill, to combat illegal cow eating, the government established harsh penalties. A person can get more time for killing a cow than killing a human. Those who sell beef without government permission can get three to eight years in prison, eaters of illegal beef can get three months to one year in prison. The Special Periods malnutrition created epidemics, but it had positive effects too, a paper in the American Journal of Epidemiology, says that during 1997-2002, there were declines in deaths attributed to diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, and all causes. An outbreak of neuropathy and a modest increase in the death rate among the elderly were also observed. This was caused by how the population tried to reduce the energy store without reducing the value of the food
10.
Cosmetics
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Cosmetics, also known as make-up, are substances or products used to enhance or alter the appearance or fragrance of the body. Many cosmetics are designed for use of applying to the face and they are generally mixtures of chemical compounds, some being derived from natural sources, and some being synthetics. Common cosmetics include lipstick, mascara, eye shadow, foundation, rouge, skin cleansers and skin lotions, shampoo, hairstyling products, perfume and this broad definition includes any material intended for use as a component of a cosmetic product. The FDA specifically excludes soap from this category, Egyptian women and men also used makeup. They were very fond of eyeliner and eyeshadows in dark colors including blue, red, Ancient Sumerian men and women were possibly the first to invent and wear lipstick, about 5,000 years ago. They crushed gemstones and used them to decorate their faces, mainly on the lips, also around 3000 BC to 1500 BC, women in the ancient Indus Valley Civilization applied red tinted lipstick to their lips for face decoration. Ancient Egyptians extracted red dye from fucus-algin,0. 01% iodine, and some bromine mannite, lipsticks with shimmering effects were initially made using a pearlescent substance found in fish scales. Six thousand year old relics of the hollowed out tombs of the Ancient Egyptian pharaohs are discovered, according to one source, early major developments include, Kohl used by ancient Egypt as a protective of the eye kohl Castor oil used by ancient Egypt as a protective balm. Skin creams made of beeswax, olive oil, and rose water, vaseline and lanolin in the nineteenth century. The Ancient Greeks also used cosmetics as the Ancient Romans did, Cosmetics are mentioned in the Old Testament, such as in 2 Kings 9,30, where Jezebel painted her eyelids—approximately 840 BC—and in the book of Esther, where beauty treatments are described. One of the most popular traditional Chinese medicines is the fungus Tremella fuciformis, used as a beauty product by women in China, the fungus reportedly increases moisture retention in the skin and prevents senile degradation of micro-blood vessels in the skin, reducing wrinkles and smoothing fine lines. Cosmetic use was frowned upon at many points in Western history, for example, in the 19th century, Queen Victoria publicly declared make-up improper, vulgar, and acceptable only for use by actors. During the sixteenth century, the attributes of the women who used make-up created a demand for the product among the upper class. As of 2016, the worlds largest cosmetics company is LOréal, the market was developed in the US during the 1910s by Elizabeth Arden, Helena Rubinstein, and Max Factor. These firms were joined by Revlon just before World War II, during the 18th century, there was a high number of incidences of lead-poisoning because of the fashion for red and white lead makeup and powder. This led to swelling and inflammation of the eyes, attacked tooth enamel, heavy use was known to lead to death. Concealer is commonly used by men, Cosmetics brands release products especially tailored for men, and men are increasingly using them. Cosmetics are intended to be applied externally, a subset of cosmetics is called make-up, refers primarily to products containing color pigments that are intended to alter the users appearance
11.
Philadelphia Mint
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The Philadelphia Mint was created from the need to establish a national identity and the needs of commerce in the United States. This led the Founding Fathers of the United States to make an establishment of a national mint. The Coinage Act of 1792 was entered into law on April 2 and it proclaimed the creation of the United States Mint. Philadelphia at that time was the capital, therefore the first mint facility was built there. David Rittenhouse, an American scientist, was appointed the first director of the mint by President George Washington, two lots were purchased by Rittenhouse on July 18,1792, at Seventh Street and 631 Filbert Street in Philadelphia for $4,266.67. The next day, demolition of a whiskey distillery on the property began. Foundation work began on July 31, and by September 7, the smelt house was the first public building erected by the United States government. A three-story brick structure facing Seventh Street was constructed a few months later, measuring nearly 37 ft wide on the street, it only extended back 33 ft. The gold and silver for the mint were contained in basement vaults, the first floor housed deposit and weighing rooms, along with the press room, where striking coins took place. Mint official offices were on the floor, and the assay office was located on the third floor. A photograph of the Seventh Street building taken around 1908 show that by then the year 1792, between the smelt house and the building on Seventh Street, a mill house was built. Horses in the basement turned a mill located on the first floor. In January 1816, the smelt and mill houses were destroyed by a fire, the smelt house was never repaired and all smelting was done elsewhere. The mill house, which was destroyed, was soon replaced with a large brick building. It included a new engine in the basement to power the machinery. Until 1833, these three buildings provided the United States with hard currency, operations moved to the second Philadelphia mint in 1833, and the land housing the first mint was sold. In the late 19th or early 20th century, the property was sold to Frank Stewart, with no governmental help, the first mint was demolished between 1907 and 1911. Now, only a plaque remains to memorialize the spot
Cuba
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