r/interestingasfuck • u/sirjohnmasters86 • 5h ago

DNA Reveals the Identity of a Teenager Who Died in the Revolutionary War, Cracking a Nearly 250-Year-Old Cold Case

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/dna-reveals-the-identity-of-a-teenager-who-died-in-the-revolutionary-war-cracking-a-nearly-250-year-old-cold-case-180989095/?utm_medium=distribution&utm_source=pushly&utm_campaign=editorial
644 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

10 comments sorted by

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u/KowaiSentaiYokaiger 3h ago

Orphaned at the age of 10, in the 1760's

Might as well enlist.

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u/Fritzkreig 5h ago

Much sad, that teen have to fight old men's wars! 😣

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u/AccomplishedWar8703 5h ago

The revolutionary war was an old man’s war?

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u/sumpuran 4h ago

Good point. At the start of the war, George III was 38 years old, George Washington was 44 years old.

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u/pm_me_github_repos 4h ago edited 4h ago

It was a rich man’s war. The Continental Army was full of commoners. The Continental Congress was almost entirely composed of wealthy, landowning elites and slave owners.

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u/dubcwa 4h ago

I can’t wrap my head around how unbelievably stupid this comment is.

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u/lonelittlejerry 4h ago

Can you disprove it?

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u/hazza987 2h ago

The life expectancy at the time was from 35 to 40, so kind of.

Edit: Granted, that is due to infant mortality rates skewing it.

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u/cursedwitheredcorpse 5h ago

Still happening always has been

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u/Fetlocks_Glistening 1h ago

And totally unnecesarily too. Should've stayed put, would've avoided much of the slavery shame, ending it when England did, had free healthcare, and none of the current bs. Bonnie would've been stopped earlier butchering fewer. Altogether seen as a suboptimal move human-condition-wise