Just In Time For Presidents' Day: 10 Little-Known Facts About George Washington

Now that our chocolate has been eaten and Valentine’s Day cards read, it’s time to look forward to tomorrow – President’s Day.  As you enjoy your day off with the kids, think about

10 Facts You May Not Know

About The Father Of Our Country

 

 

• Washington started school when he was six years old, but left when he was 15 to become a surveyor because his mother couldn’t afford to send him to college.

• That’s not a wig he’s wearing in the portraits. It looks white because he powdered it, as was the fashion of the times.

• On his deathbed, Washington instructed his secretary to wait two days before burying him, just to make sure he was really dead.  Apparently, he wanted to avoid being buried alive, a fate he believed had befallen a number of historical people.

• He suffered from a variety of ailments including diptheria, tuberculosis, smallpox, dysentery, malaria, quinsy (tonsillitis), carbuncle, pneumonia, epiglottitis, and toothaches.

• Mr. Washington wrote between 18,000 and 20,000 letters, more than any other president.

On his deathbed, Washington instructed his secretary to wait two days before burying him, just to make sure he was really dead. Apparently, he wanted to avoid being buried alive, a fate he believed had befallen a number of historical people.

• Before fighting the British, he fought FOR the British. At 21, Washington was sent to lead a British colonial force against the French in Ohio. He subsequently lost and this aided in sparking the Seven Years War in North America.

• Upon Benjamin Franklin’s death in 1790, Washington inherited his walking stick.

• Greeting the President as “Mr. President” was his idea.

• Among the many crops Washington grew was hemp, which was used to make rope, paper, and other products.

• Washington introduced mules to America when he bred donkeys from the King of Spain and the Marquis de Lafayette with his own horses. He had 57 mules at Mount Vernon at the time of his death.

So let's raise a coffee cup (or something stronger when the kids get on your nerves) to the Father Of Our Country!


Please note:  this post also appears on www.thegeekparent.com.

Thanks for reading!!