The three-cent nickel was designed by the US Mint's Chief Engraver James
B. Longacre and struck by the mint from 1865 to 1889. When precious
metal coinage was hoarded during the economic turmoil of the American
Civil War, including the silver three-cent piece, and even the copper-
nickel cent was commanding a premium, Congress issued paper money in
denominations as small as three cents, but these small slips of paper
became ragged and dirty. After the issue of a lighter bronze cent and a
two-cent piece in 1864, there were proposals for a three-cent piece in
copper-nickel. The advocates were led by Pennsylvania industrialist
Joseph Wharton, who then controlled the domestic supply of nickel ore.
On the last day of the congressional session, March 3, 1865, a bill for
a three-cent piece in copper-nickel alloy was introduced in Congress,
passed by both houses without debate, and signed by President Abraham
Lincoln. Although initially popular, the three-cent nickel piece became
less so with the introduction in 1866 of the five-cent nickel, a larger,
more convenient coin, with a value better fitting the decimal system.
After 1870, most years saw low annual mintages for the three-cent
nickel, and in 1890 Congress abolished it.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-cent_nickel>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1284:
The Statute of Rhuddlan incorporated the Principality of Wales
into England.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statute_of_Rhuddlan>
1861:
The Emancipation Manifesto of Tsar Alexander II was
proclaimed, abolishing serfdom in Imperial Russia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipation_reform_of_1861>
1875:
The first indoor game of ice hockey was played at the Victoria
Skating Rink in Montreal by James Creighton and McGill University
students.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_indoor_hockey_game>
1915:
The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the
predecessor of NASA, was founded.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Advisory_Committee_for_Aeronautics>
1945:
A former Armia Krajowa unit massacred at least 150 Ukrainian
civilians in Pawłokoma, Poland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paw%C5%82okoma_massacre>
2012:
Two passenger trains collided head-on near the town of
Szczekociny in Poland, resulting in 16 deaths and 58 injuries.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Szczekociny_rail_crash>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
beey:
(informal, rare) Reminiscent of or containing bees.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/beey>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
It is the human condition to question one god after another, one
appearance after another, or better, one apparition after another,
always pursuing the truth of the imagination, which is not the same as
the truth of appearance.
--Émile Chartier
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/%C3%89mile_Chartier>