Did you know a single misplaced comma once cost America millions — all over some tropical fruit?
Back in 1872, the U.S. was fine-tuning a new tariff act. Lawmakers wanted to exempt "fruit plants"—but only the tropical and semi-tropical kind, and only for propagation or cultivation. The idea was simple: help farmers, not fruit merchants.
But then, disaster struck in the form of a sneaky little comma. A copyist nudged it one word to the left. Instead of exempting "fruit plants," the printed law now exempted "fruit, plants tropical and semi-tropical…"
Fruit importers pounced! Suddenly, all bananas, pineapples, and other delicious cargo could legally glide into America, duty-free—no hidden fees, just hidden punctuation. The Treasury Department had no choice but to agree: Yep, that comma means all fruit gets in free.
The result? Uncle Sam lost anywhere from $1 million to $2 million—a cool $40 million in today's money! That's a lot of bananas (and a massive fruit salad).
After two years of Congress fuming and Treasury accountants crying into their oranges, the law was fixed. The comma was put back in its rightful home and tropical fruit got their tariffs.
[Via Futility Closet]
