JargonFile/entries/Nathan Hale.txt

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Nathan Hale
n. An asterisk (see also splat , ASCII ). Oh, you want an etymology?
Notionally, from I regret that I have only one asterisk for my country!,
a misquote of the famous remark uttered by Nathan Hale just before he was
hanged. Hale was a (failed) spy for the rebels in the American War of
Independence.