We’ve had some pretty cool presidents…and some with really weird facts. Celebrate today with 20 facts you probably never knew about your past presidents! Happy President’s Day!
Abraham Lincoln
1. Abraham Lincoln is a part of the Wrestling Hall of Fame.
He was only defeated once in twelve years! He is an inductee at the national wrestling hall of fame in Oklahoma.
2. In 1876 Lincoln’s corpse was attempted to be stolen by grave robbers.
3. He taught himself law and passed the bar exam.
Who needs law school?
4. He is the only president to hold a patent.
Lincoln’s patent is U.S. Patent No. 6469 and it makes an inflatable bellows system to improve navigation of boats in shallow water!
5. He established Thanksgiving as a national holiday.
Where would we be without Lincoln?
Andrew Jackson
6. He taught his parrot how to curse.
Andrew Jackson’s parrot attended his funeral and had to be removed because it would not stop cursing.
7. He was a gambler.
When he was a teenager, Jackson gambled away all of his grandfather’s inheritance!
8. He beat up his own assassin.
After being misfired at by a stranger, he beat the man up with his cane!
9. Jackson had a giant wheel of cheese in the White House.
The 1,400-pound wheel of cheddar cheese was a gift that he kept in the White House for two years. When he left office, he let the public eat it!
10. He was Tennessee’s first representative in the House of Representatives.
He started at the young age of 29!
John. F. Kennedy
11. Kennedy won a Pulitzer Prize.
In 1957, he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in biography.
12. He installed a secret taping system in the White House.
Likely, this was to help him write his future memoir.
13. His favorite food was ice-cream with hot fudge.
As confirmed by his White House Chef.
14. He had two parakeets while in the White House.
Their names were Bluebell and Maybell.
15. He also had two ponies while in the White House.
Their names were Macaroni and Tex.
Richard Nixon
16. He was a card shark.
He got the best poker player in his unit of the Navy to teach him how to play. Within months he racked in about $6000 while playing and used that money to fund his first campaign.
17. He almost became an FBI Agent.
He was accepted, but then budget cuts eliminated his position.
18. He met his wife at a theatre audition.
Nixon auditioned for a community theatre’s production of “The Dark Tower” where his future first lady was also auditioning.
19. He could play five musical instruments.
Including the saxophone, clarinet, accordion and violin.
20. He lost his high school election.
Nixon ran for student body president when he was a senior in 1929 and lost.
Sources:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/17/presidents-day-44-facts_n_4802776.html
www.blog.constitutioncenter.org
Cover Photo: Printable Calander
Lincoln: Headsup.boyslife
Jackson: The Papers of Andrew Jackson
Kennedy: Static2.comicvine
Nixon: aos.iacpublishinglabs