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🗓️ Today in History
🚢 September 12, 1857 – The “Ship of Gold” Sinks
On this day in 1857, the SS Central America—a sidewheel steamer packed with passengers, mail, and roughly 30,000 pounds of California gold—went down in a hurricane off the coast of the Carolinas. More than 420 people died, and with them sank a fortune that would rattle the U.S. economy.
The ship had left Panama loaded with miners and merchants returning east after striking it rich in the California Gold Rush. That cargo wasn’t just shiny souvenirs; it was the backbone of American banking at the time. When the Central America vanished beneath the waves, the sudden loss of gold shipments helped trigger the Panic of 1857, one of the nastier financial crises of the 19th century.
The wreck sat on the seafloor for over a century before treasure hunters finally located it in the 1980s. The haul of coins and bars was massive, but the real jackpot went to the lawyers who fought over it.
❓ Trivia
Which U.S. president’s face appeared on the $500 bill?
P.S. We’re now breaking down the answers at the end of each edition, so you get a little more insight.
Alfred Nobel’s Explosive Legacy
Alfred Nobel’s name is tied to peace, but his fortune came from the opposite. The Swedish chemist invented dynamite, an explosive that reshaped both industry and warfare. Later, unsettled by how history might judge him, he used his wealth to create the Nobel Prizes, including the one for peace. Few legacies carry that kind of irony.
Building an Inventor
Nobel was born in Stockholm in 1833 into a family of engineers. His father, Immanuel, designed weapons and mines for the Russian military, so Alfred grew up surrounded by the science of explosions. By the time he reached adulthood, he spoke multiple languages, trained with top chemists in Europe, and focused on a deadly problem: nitroglycerin.
Nitroglycerin packed enormous power but was so unstable that it could explode from a small bump. In the 1860s, Nobel solved the problem by combining it with an absorbent material. The mixture could be shaped into sticks and handled with far less risk. He named it “dynamite,” borrowing from the Greek word for power.
Useful and Dangerous
Dynamite was immediately embraced. Builders used it to blast tunnels, carve railroads, and open waterways that once seemed impossible. Modern projects from the Panama Canal to mountain rail lines depended on it.
But its usefulness also made it attractive to militaries. Armies deployed dynamite in new ways, and Nobel’s fortune grew from both progress and destruction. By the late 1800s, he held more than 350 patents and controlled factories across Europe.
Reading His Own Obituary
In 1888, a French newspaper mistakenly reported Alfred’s death after confusing him with his brother Ludvig. The obituary ran under the headline “The Merchant of Death Is Dead.” It criticized Nobel for profiting from weapons and suggested that his legacy would be nothing but destruction.
Nobel was shaken. He did not want his life’s work reduced to that label. In response, he rewrote his will. When he died in 1896, he left the majority of his wealth—worth hundreds of millions in today’s money—to fund annual prizes in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and peace.
Legacy That Endures
The Nobel Prizes have since become some of the most respected honors in the world. Awarded to figures from Albert Einstein to Martin Luther King Jr., they embody a legacy of knowledge, discovery, and peace that overshadows the “merchant of death” title once pinned to him.
Dynamite remains a symbol of both sides of progress. It made modern construction possible and at the same time gave warfare a new edge. Nobel’s foundation, however, continues to influence science and culture more than a century after his death, proving that sometimes a legacy can be rewritten.
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🥣 Stuff to Check Out
“That Girl Could Sing” is Jackson Browne in full storyteller mode, pulling you in slow before the band really kicks in.
Browne was coming off the Hold Out era in 1980, and this track captures that perfect blend of soft-rock introspection and California swagger. The verses float with his trademark melancholy, but the chorus explodes with harmonies and drive. It’s the kind of song that makes you roll the windows down.
People usually point to “Running on Empty” or “Doctor My Eyes” when they talk Browne, but “That Girl Could Sing” shows another side. It’s polished, sure, but there’s a grit underneath, a reminder that he could still write hooks that punched as hard as his ballads pulled.
If you think Browne was only good for slow-burn confessionals, this track will set you straight. It’s wistful, it’s huge, and forty years later it still sneaks up on you with that perfect lift-off.
Give it a listen 👇
🚨 Badass Video of The Week
Slackliner Walks Between Hot Air Balloons
Watch it 👇
📸 Photo of The Week
A silverback gorilla undergoing a medical procedure
🍽️ Last Bite
🎰 Trivia Breakdown
The $500 bill feels like Monopoly money, but it was once real U.S. currency. Printed for the last time in 1945 and officially discontinued in 1969, the note was designed for bank transfers and big transactions—not buying groceries.
And the face on it? President William McKinley. Chosen in the 1920s, McKinley was remembered as a steady, respectable leader who had guided the nation through the Spanish–American War and an era of economic growth. He was a “safe” pick: popular, recently martyred by assassination, and not already on another bill. In short, the Treasury wanted stability printed on their high-dollar note, and McKinley fit the bill.
He wasn’t alone in the big-money lineup. Grover Cleveland graced the $1,000 bill, James Madison landed on the $5,000, and Woodrow Wilson’s portrait topped the $100,000 note, which was never released to the public.
Today, $500 bills are collector’s items worth well over their face value. McKinley may not be the most remembered president, but thanks to the $500, his face still cashes in.
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