1mo ago

TIL That the bison is the "National Mammal" of the US and Obama signed it. And I don't even remember this happening or making news.

www.nytimes.com Obama Signs Law Making Bison the First National Mammal (Published 2016)

The United States has named its first national mammal, giving the title to a species that once stretched from the forests of Alaska to the grasslands of Mexico.

Despite, only this year they will finally make the bald eagle the national bird. Which, I also learned that they are not official symbols until a President signs a document for them to be. It is just a recognized symbol but not official. (Just my opinion but why do they really need a bill for this? What changes would making anything like this official really do?)

Here is a list of other US symbols (article includes links to other countries of the world national symbols, some official, some not made official) if you are interested:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_symbols_of_the_United_States

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The eagle not being official is surprising since bald eagles have been protected with a pretty severe fine since 1940.
- Are eagles mammals? 🤔
  
  Fuck if I know. I went to private school.
  
  Nooooo...
- Also...Benjamin Franklin bitched about the choice of the bald eagle over the turkey?
  
  Canadian dollars are maple coins, Australian dollars are kangaroo coins, American dollars are eagle coins...
  
  .25 and .5 do. Our current dollar coin is a Native American named Sacagawea.
  
  The quarter-dollar coin was minted for a very long time with an eagle on the back but I don't think it has been since 1998 when they started the state quarters program. If I understand correctly the quarter-dollar is currently minted in 5 versions, each depicting a notable American woman on the reverse.
  The half-dollar coin is still minted in the 1964 Kennedy/Great Seal design, so it's got the eagle in full Freemason Illuminati regalia with the shield and the olive branch and the arrows and whatever. It's weird that the front of the Great Seal is on the rear of the half-dollar.
  The one-dollar coin is still currently minted with Sacagawea on the obverse and a realistic depiction of an eagle in flight on the reverse.
  Completing the set:
  The ten-cent coin is still Roosevelt plus the olive-torch-oak, no birds.
  The five-cent coin has not too long ago updated the image of Jefferson on the front but still features Monticello on the rear.
  The one cent coin needs to fucking stop. It's often Abe Lincoln themed but they're doing similar commemorative shit as with the quarter so there's an untold number of things it can currently be. We also lose money every time they make a penny because there isn't a metal worthless enough to make pennies out of.
  No longer minted but historically the $10 coin was called an "Eagle" and the pocket watch sized gold $20 coin was called the "Double Eagle." These are no longer minted and since we're off the gold standard there's a couple hundred bucks in gold in a Double Eagle.
  But I wasn't being technical; in casual discussions online about exchange rates of the various dollars minted around the world you'll hear people use national symbols or stereotypes or whatever to add a little levity. "It cost more in kangaroo bucks compared to freedom eagle dollars."
- No the eagle was the national bird just ridiculous that they have to sign a whole bill for it to be official. Seems like a waste of resources.
  
  How else would it be official though?
  Presidential decree could be overturned every time the president changes. If there was an agency that declared things to be official, then they would have to pass a law to grant them the power to do that.
  Being official always starts with laws, might as well do the whole thing at once.
  
  Official by tradition or custom https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customary_law

61 comments