By
The GazetteNovember 1, 2016 | updated 10 years ago
Abe Lincoln: licensed bartender For a man who was born more than two centuries ago, the public sure seems to remember a lot about Abe Lincoln, the 16th president of the U.S. It's well known that he was a tall man, at 6'4", and that he kept important documents inside that very tall hat he wore. But did you know that Lincoln was a licensed bartender? According to the Abraham Lincoln Research Site, Lincoln was co-owner of Berry and Lincoln, a general store and bar in New Salem, Illinois. Among the drinks sold: half pints of wine, French brandy, rum, peach brandy and Holland gin. (The license was taken out by his business partner, William F. Berry, who signed Lincoln's name.) (The White House via Wikipedia)
Abe Lincoln: licensed bartender For a man who was born more than two centuries ago, the public sure seems to remember a lot about Abe Lincoln, the 16th president of the U.S. It’s well known that he was a tall man, at 6’4″, and that he kept important documents inside that very tall hat he wore. But did you know that Lincoln was a licensed bartender? According to the Abraham Lincoln Research Site, Lincoln was co-owner of Berry and Lincoln, a general store and bar in New Salem, Illinois. Among the drinks sold: half pints of wine, French brandy, rum, peach brandy and Holland gin. (The license was taken out by his business partner, William F. Berry, who signed Lincoln’s name.) (The White House via Wikipedia)Franklin Delano Roosevelt: no polio after all? Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd U.S. president, is known for his efforts to raise funds for polio vaccine research after being diagnosed with polio in his late thirties. Some researchers now believe, however, that Roosevelt’s polio diagnosis was incorrect and that he instead had Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a rare autoimmune disorder. Proponents of this theory point out that many of Roosevelt’s symptoms are atypical of polio but typical of Guillain-Barre, including the age of onset (39, in Roosevelt’s case — polio usually strikes younger individuals) and paralysis that affected both sides of his body (polio often affects one side more severely than the other). (The White House via Wikipedia)Herbert Hoover: a friend to alligators There are many useful facts that one can memorize about Herbert Hoover, America’s 31st president. Case in point: Hoover, the son of a Quaker blacksmith, studied at Stanford, worked as a mining engineer and served as the head of the Food Administration during World War I. Perhaps more interestingly, he allowed his son’s pet alligators to roam the White House grounds on occasion. (The White House via Wikipedia)Woodrow Wilson: extreme golf aficionado Many of us have that family member who loves golf — the one who perpetually analyzes his swing, drinks coffee out of a golf-theme mug, and practically lives on the golf course. Wilson, the 28th president of the U.S., might have him beat. He was known to golf almost daily as a way of dealing with the stresses of wartime. Weather was no deterrent. If the course was covered in snow, Wilson played with black golf balls. (The White House via Wikipedia)George Washington: cultivator of hemp Washington, Revolutionary War hero and intrepid first president of the United States, grew hemp at his Mount Vernon, Va., plantation for decades. But it wasn’t that kind of hemp. The official Mount Vernon website is quick to point out that Washington cultivated Cannabis sativa, industrial hemp that was useful for making rope and boat sails, not Cannabis sativa indica, also known as marijuana. (The White House via Wikipedia)Andrew Jackson: dangerously addicted to dueling Hot-headed Jackson, the seventh president of the U.S., had a thing for dueling. He is said to have dueled up to 100 times, often in defense of his wife, Rachel’s, honor. According to MentalFloss.com, Jackson was once shot in the chest during a duel. His response? He covered the wound with a handkerchief and shot his opponent dead. Though he escaped the duel with his life, Jackson’s wound would prove debilitating. “The bullet … was lodged so close to Jackson’s heart that it couldn’t be removed, and he suffered from chest pains and excessive phlegm for the rest of his life,” the website states. (The White House via Wikipedia)Ronald Reagan: a man with a “nearly perfect” figure Perhaps this one won’t come as a surprise, given Reagan’s star status before becoming president. Reagan, the 40th U.S. president, starred in films like “Bedtime for Bunzo” and “Kings Row.” He also won the title of “Most Nearly Perfect Male Figure” from the University of California in 1940. After winning the title, he was given the chance to pose “nearly naked” for art students learning to sculpt the human body. (The White House via everettraymondkinstler.com)Jimmy Carter: the president who filed a UFO report Calling all UFO believers: Count Jimmy Carter in. Carter, the nation’s 39th president, filed a UFO-sighting report in 1973 claiming that he’d seen a UFO four years earlier on an October evening outside in Georgia while he waited for a Lion’s Club meeting to begin. “Carter, as well as 10 to 12 other people who witnessed the same event, described the object as ‘very bright [with] changing colors and about the size of the moon,'” according to History.com. “Carter reported that ‘the object hovered about 30 degrees above the horizon and moved in toward the earth and away before disappearing into the distance.'” Carter was open about the sighting during his campaign. He promised that, if elected, he would encourage the government to release all information about UFOs. But he changed his stance in office, citing potential national security implications. (The White House via Wikipedia)
