The nickel is a five-cent coin issued since 1866 by the United States Mint, composed of 75% copper and 25% nickel. The silver half dime, also equal to five cents, was first issued in the 1790s. The economic upset of the American Civil War drove gold and silver from circulation, and the government at first issued paper currency in place of low-value coins. As two-cent (in 1864) and three-cent pieces (1865) without precious metal content had been successfully introduced, Congress authorized a five-cent piece of base metal; the Mint began striking this in 1866. The Shield nickel, the initial design, was struck until 1883, when it was replaced by the Liberty Head nickel. As part of a drive to increase the beauty of American coinage, the Buffalo nickel (shown) was introduced in 1913; it was followed by the Jefferson nickel in 1938. After using special designs for the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 2004 and 2005, the Mint reverted to using Jefferson nickel designer Felix Schlag's original reverse (or "tails" side), although substituting a new obverse. As of 2013, it costs more than eleven cents to produce a nickel; the Mint is investigating using less expensive metals.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel_(United_States_coin)
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1789:
As per the U.S. Constitution, the bicameral U.S. Congress officially replaced the unicameral Congress of the Confederation as the legislative body of the federal government. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_United_States_Congress
1899:
Cyclone Mahina struck Bathurst Bay, Queensland, killing over 400 people, the deadliest natural disaster in Australian history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Mahina
1933:
Frances Perkins was appointed United States Secretary of Labor, making her the first female member of the Cabinet. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Perkins
1980:
Robert Mugabe of the Zimbabwe African National Union was elected to head the first government in Zimbabwe. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mugabe
2007:
Fourteen-year-old English schoolgirl Charlotte Shaw drowned on Dartmoor, becoming the first person to die in connection with the annual Ten Tors challenge. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Charlotte_Shaw
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
philtrum: The shallow groove running down the center of the outer surface of the upper lip. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/philtrum
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
We know that with the very first awakening of knowledge, man is confronted with two obvious facts: The existence of the world in which he lives; and the existence of psychic life in himself. Neither of these can he prove or disprove, but they are facts: they constitute reality for him. --P. D. Ouspensky https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/P._D._Ouspensky