This Day in History: Sir Thomas More was executed for treason against King Henry VIII of England on this day in 1535. During the reign of Henry VIII, it is estimated that between 57,000 and 72,000 English subjects lost their heads. Thomas More is known for more than that though. He famously wrote an important Communist book called UTOPIA. In More’s Utopia, “men live all the time under everyone’s eyes.” "Citizens shunned individuality. All dressed in bland, simple garments and disdained ostentations like jewelry and other finery. Gold had so little appeal that it was used for making chamberpots. All persons ate their meals in large groups in common halls. Communistic Utopia had no money or private property." [Daniel Hager] Utopia inspired many socialists, but Karl Kautsky pointed out that "perplexed" historians and economists often saw the name Utopia (which means "no place") as "a subtle hint by More that he himself regarded his communism as an impracticable dream."
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