You don’t even have to go that far back - consider that children in the 1700s and 1800s could join the British Navy at age 11 or 12 and become an officer at the

You don’t even have to go that far back - consider that children in the 1700s and 1800s could join the British Navy at age 11 or 12 and become an officer at the ripe old age of 15 or thereabout.