May 16, 2011

On this date in 1532, Sir Thomas More resigned as Lord Chancellor of England. His successor, Sir Thomas Most, did all the same stuff he had done. But just a little bit better.

Also, happy birthday to the nickel, which Congress created on this date in 1866, eliminating the half-dime coin. Which was nice, because the half-dime was really, really small and Franklin Roosevelt’s head was split in two, which looked kind of violent and mean.

The benefit was that with that one flat edge, they didn’t roll away when you dropped them.