Daniel Dobbins was born this day in 1775. We’re pretty sure that’s the date; listen in and find out why.

Dobbins spent most of his time on the waters of Lake Erie. He—and most of the people in the Lower Peninsula of modern-day Michigan—didn’t even know that the War of 1812 was going on until he and his ship were captured by the British.

He managed to escape and an interesting coincidence saved his life. Eventually he became a Sailing Master in the US Navy and redesigned the gunboats so they’d handle better in the Great Lakes. After the war his career took some interesting turns that had literally nothing to do with him.