Known and Unknown Presidential Facts

It's President's Day and I found some known and unknown facts about the two past President's who celebrate birthdays this month, and the current U.S. President Barack Obama.

George Washington: No formal education. The only president elected unanimously. He received all 69 electoral votes. At his inauguration, Washington had only one tooth. At various times he wore dentures made of human teeth, animal teeth, ivory or even lead. Never wood. In addition to the nation's capital and the state, 31 counties and 17 towns are named in his honor. He stood 6 feet and 2 inches tall, weighed 200 pounds and wore size 13 shoes. He is the only president who didn't live in Washington, D.C. during his presidency. During his presidency the Judiciary Act of 1789 established the federal court system, the Bank Act of 1791 established a nation wide banking system, the Bill of Rights became law on December 15, 1791.

 Abraham Lincoln: No formal education. On April 12, 1861 Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina setting off the Civil War. Lincoln quickly mobilized the Union by executive order. January 1, 1863 he formally issued the Emancipation Proclamation. On November 19, of that same year he delivered the Gettysburg Address. On April 9, 1865 Generals Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant signed term of Confederate surrender at Appomattox, Virginia. Five days later, on April 14, 1865 Lincoln went to Ford's Theater to watch "Our American Cousin" and was shot by actor John Wilkes Booth. He died the next morning at Petersen's Boarding House. Lincoln was the first president to die by assassination. At 6 feet 4 inches he was the tallest president.  Lincoln was the only president to receive a patent, for a device for lifting boats over shoals. He was the first president to wear a beard.  A poll of historians named Lincoln the nation's greatest president. Washington was second.

Barack Obama:  Born to a father from Kenya and a mother from Kansas, Obama worked his way through college, aided also by student loans and scholarships.  He attended Occidental College and Columbia University, and went on to attend law school and became the first African American president of the Harvard Law Review.  He later taught law at the University of Chicago.  Obama became President of the United States on November 4, 2008.  He does not like ice cream as a result of working at an ice cream shop as a teenager.  Collects Spiderman and Conan the Barbarian comic books.