24 May—The Brooklyn Bridge opened 182 years ago today. It would appear the Mexican Navy sail training vessel ARM Cuauhtémoc intended to celebrate the anniversary a week early by sailing under the iconic bridge last Saturday night.

But the ship’s main mast is about 160 feet high while the bridge’s navigational clearance is only 127 feet. And even the lowest tide wouldn’t allow the tall ship to squeeze under the span. So you wonder what the hell the ARM Cuauhtémoc was doing anywhere near the Brooklyn Bridge in the first place.

ARM in Mexican naval vessels’ names stands for Armada de la República Mexicana—Navy of the Mexican Republic. It’s the official prefix used for ships of the Mexican Navy. Until Mexico becomes the 52^nd state, of course, at which time they’ll all become USS. And the whole world will join Google Earth in calling the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America.

While we’re at it, ships’ names are typically italicized. And the name Cuauhtémoc is Nahuatl (the lingua franca of Aztecs, now spoken in Mexico and the United States—really) and means “descending eagle,” alluding to the moment when an eagle folds its wings and dives towards its prey. The last Aztec emperor, who ruled Tenochtitlan (now the center of Mexico City) from 1520 to 1521, was named Cuauhtémoc. Don’t forget it.

And on this day in 1844, portrait painter Samuel Morse, having patented his telegraph in 1840, transmitted the first telegraphic message from the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., to Baltimore. The first message was “What hath God wrought.” You can say that again. But who can send it in Morse code?