The most expensive comma in U.S. history: how fruit importers cashed in

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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…