Father and Son Medal of Honor Winners

There have been two US father and son recipients of the Medal of Honor: General Arthur MacArthur (Civil War) and General of the Army Douglas MacArthur; and Theodore Roosevelt (US Volunteers Colonel) and General Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.

Wilmer McLean

Wilmer McLean had the Civil War begin and end in his yard. The initial engagement of the Civil War which would become known as the First Battle of Bull Run took place on July 18, 1861 on McLean's farm, the Yorkshire Plantation, in Manassas, Prince William County, Virginia. On April 9, 1865, the war revisited Wilmer McLean. Confederate General Robert E. Lee was about to surrender to Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant. He sent a messenger to Appomattox Courthouse to find a place to meet. On April 8, 1865, the messenger knocked on McLean's door and requested the use of his home. Lee surrendered to Grant in the parlor of McLean's house, effectively ending the Civil War.

Killed by Indians

Abraham Lincoln’s forty-two-year-old grandfather, Abraham Lincoln Sr., was putting in a crop of corn in 1786 with his sons Josiah, Mordecai, and Thomas (the president's father). They were attacked by a war party of Indians and Abraham Lincoln Sr was killed.

Youngest on Planet?

For a short period of time, you were the youngest person on earth.

The Bellamy Salutes

In 1892 James B. Upham, the ditor of The Youth's Companion, invented the Bellamy Salute as a hand gesture to accompant the Pledge of Allegiance. Uphamsaid he saw a youth (Bellamy) do the gesture while the pledge of allegiance was read. Because of the similarity to the Nazi salute, President Franklin D. Roosevelt started the hand-over-the-heart gesture as the salute for civilians during the Pledge of Allegiance.

Indian Vice President?

Charles Curtis, Herbert Hoover's Vice President, was nearly half American Indian in ancestry. His mother, Ellen Papin, was one-fourth French, one-fourth Kaw, one-fourth Osage, and one-fourth Pottawatomie. His father, Orren Curtis, was an American of English, Scots and Welsh ancestry. On his mother's side, Curtis was a descendant of Kaw Chief White Plume and Osage Chief Pawhuska.

Giza

The Great Pyramid of Giza was built around around 2560 BC. at an inital height of at 146.5 meters (480.6 ft), making it the tallest man-made structure in the world for over 3,800 years.

Lincoln Kennedy Coincidences

Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy



1. Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846. John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946.
2. Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860. John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960.
3. Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808. Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908.
4. LINCOLN and KENNEDY each has 7 letters.
5. ANDREW JOHNSON and LYNDON JOHNSON each has 13 letters.
6. JOHN WILKES BOOTH and LEE HARVEY OSWALD each has 15 letters.
7. Both Presidents were shot on a Friday in the head.

Harper and Truman

Harper Lee lived next door to the cousins Truman Capote came to stay with in her small country town. The playmates became best friends. Capote has said that he is the model for the character Dill, in To Kill a Mockingbird.

Died on the Same Today

Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, the third and second president of the US, and signers of the Declaration of Independence, both died on July 4, 1826, fifty years to the day of July 4th, 1776.

Grant and Lee and Slavery

Ulysses S. Grant owned a slave named William Jones, whom he freed in 1859. His wife, Julia, also owned slaves whom she inherited from her father. These slaves were freed in 1865, when the war ended. Robert E. Lee freed the slaves he inherited in 1862. (He freed them because it was stipulated in the contract when he inherited them that they must be freed within five years). But in any case, Grant's family had slaves longer than Lee's family did.

The Declaration

Only two people signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, John Hancock and Charles Thomson. Most of the rest signed on August 2, but the last signature wasn't added until 5 years later.

Cigarette Commercials

The last time a cigarette commercial appeared on TV was December 31, 1970.

15 Stripes

There were 15 stripes on the official American Flag before Congress passed a law forever setting the number to 13. The number had increased to 15 in 1795 to include Kentucky and Vermont. Since more and more states were joining the Union, the number of stripes was reduced to 13 as of July 4, 1818 to represent the original states.

Amish Men

Young men are clean shaven prior to marriage, while married men are required to let their beards grow. Mustaches are forbidden. And while they are called the Pennsylvania Dutch they are not from Holland, they are from Germany. They are really Pennsylvania Deutsch, which is the German word for German.

Mona Lisa

The Mona Lisa has no eyebrows. It was the fashion in Renaissance Florence to shave them off.

Alaska

Alaska could hold the 21 smallest States.

Green Eggs

Dr. Suess wrote Green Eggs and Ham after being challenged by his editor to write a book using fewer than fifty unique words.

Most Dangerous Animal

What animal kills the most people in the US every year?

Approximately 130 people are killed in deer/vehicle collisions each year.

Gerald Ford

Gerald Ford was the only person who held the office of the Vice-Presidency and the Presidency, but was not elected to either post.

100000 Bill

President Woodrow Wilson appeared on the $100,000 bill. They were not publicly issued, and were used only for intra-government transactions. They were printed in orange on the reverse, and are illegal to own. All known pieces are in government museums.

Googol

Larry Page and Sergey Brin were trying to think up a good name for their new search engine - something that related to the indexing of an immense amount of data. Sean verbally suggested the word 'googolplex,' and Larry responded verbally with the shortened form, 'googol' (both words refer to specific large numbers). Sean was seated at his computer terminal, so he executed a search of the Internet domain name registry database to see if the newly suggested name was still available for registration and use. Sean is not an infallible speller, and he made the mistake of searching for the name spelled as 'google.com,' which he found to be available. Larry liked the name, and within hours he took the step of registering the name 'google.com' for himself and Sergey (the domain name registration record dates from September 15, 1997).

The QWERTY keyboard

The first practical typewriter was patented in the United States in 1868 by Christopher Latham Sholes. His machine was known as the type-writer. It had a movable carriage, a lever for turning paper from line to line, and a keyboard on which the letters were arranged in alphabetical order. But people typed to fast and the keys jammed together. So he separated the keys so people would type slower (so they could type faster with less jams). The resulting configuration was the QWERTY keyboard we have today.

The Ten Months

The Roman calendar originally had ten months and September, October, November, and December are the Latin words for seven, eight, nine and ten. Roman emperor Numa Pompilius then inserted two more months, January and February at the beginning and all the other months shifted two places.

January: Janus, Roman god of doors, beginnings, sunset and sunrise, had one face looking forward and one backward
February: On February 15 the Romans celebrated the festival of forgiveness for sins; (februare, Latin to purify)
March: Mars, the Roman god of war
April: Roman month Aprilis, perhaps derived from aperire, (Latin to open, as in opening buds and blossoms) or perhaps from Aphrodite, original Greek name of Venus
May: Maia, Roman goddess, mother of Mercury by Jupiter and daughter of Atlas
June: Juno, chief Roman goddess
July: Renamed for Julius Caesar in 44 BC, who was born this month; Quintilis, Latin for fifth month, was the former name (the Roman year began in March rather than January)
August: Formerly Sextilis (sixth month in the Roman calendar); re-named in 8 BC for Augustus Caesar
September: September, (septem, Latin for 7) the seventh month in the Julian or Roman calendar, established in the reign of Julius Caesar
October: Eighth month (octo, Latin for 8) in the Julian (Roman) calendar. The Gregorian calendar instituted by Pope Gregory XIII established January as the first month of the year
November: Ninth Roman month (novem, Latin for 9). Catholic countries adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1582, skipping 10 days that October, correcting for too many leap years
December: Julian (Roman) year's tenth month (decem, Latin for 10).

The First Computer Bug

The above picture is from 1947 and depicts an actual bug that was extracted from the Havard Mark II, an early computer system built at Harvard University (few computers existed throughout the world at this point). The bug is a moth and was trapped between points at “Relay #70” and “Panel F” and was discovered on September 9, 1947, several months after the computers first realistic tests that July. Many people use this anecdote to explain the etymology of the term “computer bug” and “debugging” but they are actually incorrect. The term had been used for decades to describe any sort of technical malfunction.

Hannibal

Abraham Lincoln's first vice president was Hannibal Hamlin from Maine. In 1864 Lincoln selected Andrew Johson to run with him for his second term.

OZ

The name for Oz in the 'Wizard of Oz' was thought up when the creator, Frank Baum, looked at his filing cabinet and saw A-N, and O-Z, hence 'Oz.'

Franklin Pierce

 

Franklin Pierce, the 14th US President, from 1853 to 1857, had a life that was beset by tragedy. His wife, Jane, was never comfortable with the public life of the politician. Their first child, Franklin Pierce, Jr., died three days after birth in 1836. their second child, Frank Robert Pierce (August 27, 1839 – November 14, 1843) died at the age of four from epidemic typhus. Jane suffering from depression convinced her husband to resign his Senate seat and return back to New Hampshire, which he did in 1841.

     Their son, Benjamin "Bennie" Pierce was born April 13, 1841. He became the most important person in his parentsi lives. But in 1852 he was nominated as a dark horse candidate in the Democratic National Convention and was elected President.

     On January 16, 1853, two months before the inauguration, his son Benjamin was killed, at the age of 11, in a railway accident in Andover, Massachusetts. The Boston & Maine noon express, traveling from Boston to Lawrence, was moving at 40 miles per hour when an axle broke. The only coach, in which Franklin Pierce and his wife were also riding, went down an embankment and broke in two. Benjamin was the only one killed.

    Jane Pierce was overcome with melancholia and distanced herself from her husband during his presidency. Franklin Pierce is considered one of the worst of all the US presidents.

US President in the Confederacy

John Tyler, the 10th President of the US, was  elected to the House of Representatives of the Confederate Congress in 1861, but died in Richmond, Virginia before he could assume office.

The Tin Man

Buddy Epson, Uncle Jed of the Beverly Hillbillies fame was originally cast as the tin man in the Wizard of Oz, but the silver make up they were testing got into his lungs and put him into the hospital.

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Tlachtli

The Aztecs played a sport called called tlachtli which was something like a cross between volleyball, soccer, and basketball. But to some players, tlachtli could be much more dangerous than any of those sports are today.

Two stone rings were set about 20 feet above the court, one on each of the side walls. If a player could knock the ball through one of these rings, his team won the match immediately. The player scoring the goal was allowed to seize the possessions of any spectator he could catch!

Members of the losing team did not fare so well. In some matches, the captain of the losing team was beheaded.

Presidents 1840 - 1960

Every President of the United States elected in the years 1840, 1860, 1880, 1900, 1920, 1940 and 1960 died in office.

William Henry Harrison, died of pneumonia on April 4, 1841

Abraham Lincoln, was assassinated on April 14, 1865 - he died the next day

James Garfield, was shot by an assassin on July 2, 1881 and died of complications from his injuries on September 19, 1881

William McKinley, was also shot by an assassin on September 6, 1901 and died eight days later

Warren G. Harding, died of a heart attack on August 2, 1923

Franklin D. Roosevelt, died of a cerebral hemorrhage on April 12, 1945

John F. Kennedy, was assassinated on November 22, 1963

Zachary Taylor, died of a gastrointestinal illness on July 9, 1850, and was elected in 1848 is the only President to die in office not elected in those years.

Ronald Reagan, who was elected in 1980, broke the pattern.

Pennsylvania Dutch

The Pennsylvania Dutch, or Amish people, aren't Dutch at all. They came to America from Germany, and at first were called Pennsylvania Deutsch — the German word for Germany is Deutschland, and German people are Deutsch. Since that word sounded to most Americans like Dutch, Pennsylvania Deutsch soon became Pennsylvania Dutch.

Columbus

Christopher Columbus, who is credited with discovering the New World, never set foot in North America. On his first two voyages to the New World, Columbus landed on a number of Caribbean islands. On his third voyage, he touched South America, and his fourth journey took him to Central America.

Soccer

There are many legends about the invention of soccer, but most people agree that the game began in England. According to one legend, English workers during the 11th century were digging on the site of an early battle against Danish invaders, when they found the skull of a slain Danish soldier.

The workers began kicking the skull around, and some boys who saw the workers made up a game to play with the skull. Later, a cow's bladder was used instead of the skull. The game that grew up became known as "kicking the Dane's head" or "kicking the bladder."

During the next century, many towns held annual matches of the new game. Often, one town would play a neighboring town, with hundreds of players on each team. The team that kicked the bladder into the middle of the opposing team's town was the winner.

The sport was very rough at the time, and English rulers tried to outlaw it. But the game continued to grow in popularity. New rules were established in the 19th century, and published as "Rules for the London Football Association."

The game then became known as "association football," and from "association" came the word "soccer."

President Leslie King

Gerald Ford was born Leslie Lynch King, Jr. He legally changed his name to that of his step father when he was 22 years old

Facebook

Facebook was originally named TheFaceBook and it was developed by Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg. The first use of the FaceBook was on the Harvard campus and it was limited only to Harvard students. Soon the FaceBook spread like wild fire around the other major U.S. Universities. Mark Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard and pursued his facebook dream. It went onto become the 4th most-trafficked website in the world with more than 90 million active users.

Liger

When a male lion and a female tiger breed you get a Liger - the largest of all felines. A liger looks like a giant lion with diffused stripes and some male ligers grow sparse manes. These massive creatures are 10 feet long on average and weigh about 700 lb. Ligers have been bred in captivity, deliberately and accidentally, since shortly before World War II. The largest liger alive today is appropriately named Hercules and lives in Jungle Island in Miami.

Bee Hummingbird

A Bee hummingbird weighs only about 1.8 grams, less than a penny. Its tiny wings beat 80 times per second. Using all that energy requires them to eat half their body weight in food each day as well as drink 8 times their body weight in water.

Three Best Picture Nominees

In 1939 Thomas Mitchell appeared in three of the movies nominated for Best Picture - Gone with the Wind, Stagecoach and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. He won Best Supporting Actor that year for his role as Doc Boone, in Stagecoach.

Crazy Mary Todd

Ten years after Abraham Lincoln's assassination, a Chicago court declared his 56-year-old widow Mary insane and committed her to a mental institution. On May 20, 1875, she arrived at Bellevue Place, a private, upscale sanitarium in the Fox River Valley. Her determined efforts led to her release less than four months later, when her sister Elizabeth assumed her care in Springfield.

John Cazale

John Cazale was only in five movies. All five were nominated for Best Picture (The Godfather, The Godfather Part Two, The Deer Hunter, The Conversation and Dog Day Afternoon). Three of the movies (the Godfathers and The Deer Hunter) won Best Picture Oscars."

President Lafayette?

Lafayette Foster almost became President of the United States. In the John Wilkes Boothe conspiracy, Vice President Andrew Johnson was supposed to be killed, and if he was, Lafayette Foster, the President pro tempore of the Senate would have become President of the US.

World's Rarest Animal

Lonesome George is the sole surviving member of the Pinta Island Giant Galapagos tortoise race. The species was considered extinct until 1971, when George was located by rangers. Since then, the Charles Darwin Research Station has been searching for a female tortoise, even posting a reward of $10,000 to those that find one.

The Incredible Unbreakable Egg?

The egg cannot be broken when held correctly with one hand. Close your hand so that your fingers are completely wrapped around the egg. Squeeze the egg as hard as you can by applying even pressure all around the shell. Look at everyone's amazement (mostly your own) as the egg remains whole and your hand remains dry!

State Furthest East and West?

Alaska is the state that is farthest north, east, and west while Hawaii is farthest south. The reason that Alaska is farthest east and west is due to the fact that the Aleutian Islands cross the 180° meridian of longitude, placing some of the islands actually in the Eastern Hemisphere and thus degrees east of Greenwich (and the Prime Meridian).


See the jagged international date line – the line darts west to accommodate Alaska, but the 180th meridian still splits up Alaska into east and west hemispheres, making it both the farthest east and west.

Kokura

Kokura, an ancient town in Japan, had been the primary target of the nuclear weapon "Fat Man" on August 9, 1945, but on the morning of the raid, the city was obscured by clouds and smoke from an earlier fire-bombing of the neighboring city of Yahata. Since the mission commander Major Charles Sweeney had orders to only drop the bomb if the target was sighted, he was ordered to proceed to the secondary target of Nagasaki, where the weapon was dropped.

Born on the Same Day

Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln were both born on February 12, 1809

Hitler's Nephew

William Patrick Hitler (later Stuart-Houston) nicknamed Willy, was the nephew of Adolf Hitler. Born to Adolf's half-brother Alois Hitler, Jr., and his first wife Bridget Dowling. William fought for the US during World War II against his uncle and was awarded a Purple Heart and a World War II Victory Medal.

Pepsi Floats?

Drop a can of Pepsi and a can of Diet Pepsi into a tub of water. Will they both float? Will they both sink? Will one sink and the other one float?



Perhaps, surprisingly, the diet Pepsi can will float while the Pepsi can will sink.
How can this be since they both are 12 oz?  It is because the 12 oz. is a measure of volume, not of weight.
The Pepsi can weighs more because it uses corn syrup for its sweetener, while the Diet Pepsi uses a powdered chemical sweetener, which weighs less.

Babies Born Every Second

Every second, about 4.2 babies are born in the world.

Australia

Australia is the sixth largest country in the world. It's about the same size as the 48 mainland states of the USA and 50 per cent larger than Europe, but has the lowest population density in the world - only two people per square kilometer.

General Order No. 11

General Order No. 11 was issued by General Ulysses S. Grant on Dec. 17, 1862 expelling all Jews from Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky. The order was issued because Grant thought the black market in cotton was run "mostly by Jews and other unprincipled traders." It was revoked a few weeks later by President Lincoln.