Good morning, Whitewater.
Morning rain, but otherwise a mostly sunny Friday awaits, with a high of eighty-three.
On this day in 1782, Congress adopted the design for the Great Seal of the United States.
On June 13, 1782, the Congress turned to its Secretary Charles Thomson, and provided all material submitted by the first three committees.[10] Thomson was 53 years old, and had been a Latin master at a Philadelphia academy.[27] Thomson took elements from all three previous committees, coming up with a new design which provided the basis for the final seal.[10]
Thomson used the eagle – this time specifying an American bald eagle – as the sole supporter on the shield. The shield had thirteen stripes, this time in achevron pattern, and the eagle’s claws held an olive branch and a bundle of thirteen arrows. For the crest, he used Hopkinson’s constellation of thirteen stars. The motto was E Pluribus Unum, taken from the first committee, and was on a scroll held in the eagle’s beak.[10][27]
An eagle holding symbols of war and peace has a long history, and also echoed the second committee’s themes. Franklin owned a 1702 emblem book, which included an eagle with olive branch and arrows near its talons, which may have been a source for Thomson.[18] The arrows also mirror those in the arms of the Dutch Republic, the only country in Europe with a representative government at the time, which depicted a lion holding seven arrows representing their seven provinces.[17][18] State currency may have provided further inspiration; a 1775 South Carolina bill showed a bundle of 13 arrows and a 1775 Maryland note depicted a hand with an olive branch of 13 leaves.[28]
Thomson’s drawing, the basis for the final seal
For the reverse, Thomson essentially kept Barton’s design, but re-added the triangle around the Eye of Providence and changed the mottos to Annuit Cœptisand Novus Ordo Seclorum.[27] Thomson sent his designs back to Barton, who made some final alterations. The stripes on the shield were changed again, this time to “palewise” (vertical), and the eagle’s wing position was changed to “displayed” (wingtips up) instead of “rising”. Barton also wrote a more properly heraldic blazon.[10]
The design was submitted to Congress on June 20, 1782 and was accepted the same day. Thomson included a page of explanatory notes, but no drawing was submitted. This remains the official definition of the Great Seal today.[10]
Puzzability‘s Game Boxes series concludes with Friday’s game:
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This Week’s Game — June 16-20
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Game Boxes
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Playing around will work well for you this week. For each day, we’ll give a three-by-three letter grid in which we’ve hidden the name of a tabletop game. Each has 10 or more letters and any number of words. To find the game, start at any letter and move from letter to letter by traveling to any adjacent letter—across, up and down, or diagonally. You may come back to a letter you’ve used previously, but may not stay in the same spot twice in a row. You will not always need all nine letters in the grid.
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Example:
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Answer:
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Connect Four
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What to Submit:
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Submit the game’s name (as “Connect Four” in the example) for your answer.
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Friday, June 20
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