Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Spotlight
On this date in 1866, the US Congress voted to replace the half-dime with a five-cent coin called the nickel. The Shield nickel was the first American five-cent piece not to contain any precious metals. It was designed by James B. Longacre, the mint's chief engraver. The Jefferson nickel that we know today was designed by Felix Schlag in 1938. The obverse shows a likeness of Thomas Jefferson and on the other side is his Virginia estate, Monticello.

Quote
"A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore." – Yogi Berra

Word of the day
numismatics: the study of coins, money and medals and their history (© )

Today's News

• Stanley Kunitz: US poet laureate dies at 100 (story)
• Bausch & Lomb: pulls contact lens solution linked to rare fusarium fungal infection; shares rise (story)
• Google Trends: new tool shows that Dublin has the loneliest online searchers, Singapore the happiest (story)
• Eva Longoria: is No. 1 on the Maxim list of Top 100 celebrity women, again (story)

Today's History

• Edgar Allan Poe: wed 13-year-old cousin Virginia (1836)
• Annie Get Your Gun: opened on Broadway (1946)
• Junko Tabei: ascended Mt. Everest, becoming the first woman to summit the world's highest mountain (1975)

Today's Birthdays

• Elizabeth Palmer Peabody: American educator who opened the first kindergarten (1804-1894)
• Pierce Brosnan: 5-time James Bond (53)
• Olga Korbut: Olympic gymnast (51)