*Plus, he was the first USA ambassador to Risorgimento Italy. That's the detail that stuns me.
*They buried the guy in Rome, for heaven's sake.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2011/jun/20/george-perkins-marsh-climate-speech
*I hope I'm not going to find out that George Perkins Marsh was also a writer of steampunk-era scientific romances.