President Roosevelt was dissatisfied with the bland inaugural medal designed for him by Charles Barber, chief engraver of the U.S. Mint, so he turned to the nation’s pre-eminent sculptor-medalist, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, to prepare a new medal. He was so pleased with it that he prevailed upon Saint-Gaudens to update and upgrade all U.S. coinage. The artist died after redesigning just two coins, but the renaissance that Roosevelt set in motion eventually resulted in 10 exceptional new coins.

In other news of 1905:

• Roosevelt brokered a peace treaty ending the Russo-Japanese War.
• Just two years after their first flight, the Wright brothers had improved their airplane to the point where it could fly about 25 miles without touching down.
• An earthquake killed 20,000 people in Kangra, India.
• Norway gained its independence from Sweden, peacefully ending a 91-year union. The Norwegian Parliament invited Danish Prince Charles to reign as King Haakon VII.
• Alberta and Saskatchewan were established as new Canadian provinces.
• Albert Einstein introduced his Theory of Relativity.
• Dr. Heinrich Braun, a German surgeon, developed procaine, later known as novocaine.
• Dutch nutritionist C.A. Pekeiharing began research into what he called “unrecognized substances” in food. They would later be called vitamins.
• Ty Cobb signed with the Detroit Tigers and began his colorful career as one of baseball’s greatest hitters. In private, Cobb was aggressively racist and once jumped into the stands to beat up a heckler who had lost a hand in an accident.
• Back home in Georgia, Cobb’s mother mistook her husband for a burglar and shot him to death.

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