Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
On this day in 1849, Pope Pius IX visited USS Constitution while the Ship was anchored at Gaeta, Italy.
Because a commissioned American warship was considered sovereign U.S. territory, he became the first pope regarded as having set foot on American soil—nearly a century before the first papal visit to the United States.
#ussconstitution #onthisdayinhistory #papalhistory #navalhistory #maritimehistory #americanhistory #onthisday #otd
On this day in 1849, Pope Pius IX visited USS Constitution while the Ship was anchored at Gaeta, Italy.
Because a commissioned American warship was considered sovereign U.S. territory, he became the first pope regarded as having set foot on American soil—nearly a century before the first papal visit to the United States.
#ussconstitution #onthisdayinhistory #papalhistory #navalhistory #maritimehistory #americanhistory #onthisday #otd
![We Remember - Honoring the Souls Lost While Serving Aboard USS CONSTITUTION
This Memorial Day weekend, the USS Constitution Museum remembers all those lost while serving aboard USS CONSTITUTION, and honors the sailors and Marines whose service is forever part of the ship’s story.
This video features Gordon Grant’s 1927 painting of CONSTITUTION, commissioned by the Secretary of the Navy to help raise funds for the restoration of “Old Ironsides.” Reproduced as a lithograph, the image was purchased by a million Americans who joined in honoring the legacy of CONSTITUTION and its crew.
Learn more at usscm.org.
Featured image: Gordon Grant, USS Constitution, 1927. USS Constitution Museum Collection. Dr. and Mrs. Louis Arthur Norton Gift. [2182.1] We Remember - Honoring the Souls Lost While Serving Aboard USS CONSTITUTION](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/xUfDmcZU9Ks/mqdefault.jpg)



