The bright red flower called the poinsettia has become a traditional part of American Christmas celebrations. But the flower’s common name, which, while it sounds exotic, has nothing to do with the native name for the plant, is a reference to an American diplomat of whom a 1929 edition of the Baltimore Evening Sun wrote “His Career was as flamboyantly colorful as the poinsettia, and yet he is almost forgotten.”
On October 20, 1924 an explosion occurred in the forward turret of the light cruiser USS Trenton. The event shocked the public, especially given that a very similar accident had already occurred aboard the Battleship Mississippi the previous June.