George Washington’s dress uniform was once on display at a cabinet of curiosities run by the government “office” that processed these things. For 10 points each:
[10m] Name these legal constructs first defined in the US by a 1790 “Act to promote the Progress of Useful Arts.”
ANSWER: patents [accept patent applications]
[10e] The Patent Office’s curiosities were transferred to what became this organization’s National Museum of American History. It publishes Air & Space magazine.
ANSWER: The Smithsonian Institution
[10h] John Mercer Brooke received a Confederate patent for one of these objects. One of these objects designed by Swedish-American inventor John Ericsson was deployed at a March 9, 1862 stalemate.
ANSWER: an ironclad warship [accept USS Monitor; prompt on warships or steamships or other synonyms]
<Michael Bentley, History - American - 1865-1945> ~19878~ <Editor: Michael Bentley>