Creative Diversions

Facts About U.S. Presidents

Most of us have taken some sort of U.S. History class in which we learned about our past Presidents - men who made history with their unique characteristics and big decisions. In honor of the season, your Creative Diversions Historical Fact-checking Think Tank, using that flawless historical research tool called “The Internet”, has uncovered some lesser-known (but still interesting) facts from presidential history. (Facts not guaranteed accurate.) Read on, and learn.

•	George Washington was the first President to be seen on a postage stamp.
•	The U.S. Declaration of Independence was written on hemp paper. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both grew hemp and Ben Franklin owned a mill that made hemp paper.
•	George Washington's salary a year was $25,000.
•	Thomas Jefferson was the first President of the U.S. to live in the White House and at the time it was called the President's House.
•	Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died on the same day - July 4th, 1826 - the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
•	James Madison was the smallest President in U.S. history. He stood 5 foot 4 inches tall and weighed about 90 pounds.
•	James Monroe died on July 4th, 1831.
•	Martin Van Buren, the eighth President in U.S., was the first President to be born in the United States of America.
•	The first President to have a Christmas tree in the White House was Benjamin Harrison.
•	Millard Fillmore was the first U.S. President to have a stove in the White House.
•	Abraham Lincoln had no middle name.
•	The only President born on July 4th is Calvin Coolidge in 1872.
•	John F. Kennedy is the only President to have died before his parents.
•	Richard Millhouse Nixon was the first U.S. President whose name contains all the letters in the word "criminal." William Jefferson Clinton was the second.
•	President Nixon was first U.S. President to resign from office.
•	President Gerald Ford had a different name at birth. His name was Leslie King.
•	The first U.S. President to be born in a hospital was Jimmy Carter.
•	Jimmy Carter once reported a UFO in Georgia.
•	At least three U.S. presidents were left-handed - Harry S. Truman, James Garfield and Jerry Ford.
•	John Kerry's hometown newspaper, The Lowell Sun, endorsed George W. Bush for President. Bush's hometown newspaper, The Lone Star Iconoclast, endorsed John Kerry for president.
•	Before you can run for President of the U.S. you must be a natural born citizen, a citizen for at least 14 years and be 35 years of age.
•	In the White House, there are 13,092 knives, forks and spoons.