Presidential Trivia For Presidents Day
In honor of Presidents Day today, here are some fun facts about our nation’s presidents from History.com, InfoPlease.com, National Geographic and WhiteHouse.gov:
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Barack Obama is the 44th president to serve as the United
States’ leader. He’s also the first president to write email as
president.
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President Rutherford Hayes was the first to use a telephone.
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President John Quincy Adams was the first to be photographed.
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The first president to fly in an airplane while in office was Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in 1943.
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Barack Obama is our 44th president, but there actually have
only been 43 presidents: Grover Cleveland was elected for two
nonconsecutive terms and is counted twice, as our 22nd and 24th
president.
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President Richard M. Nixon played the most musical instruments.
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As far as the most weight gained in office, that would be
President William Howard Taft, who gained 50 pounds his first term. Once
he left office he lost 75.
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The oldest elected president was Ronald Reagan, the 40th president, age 69.
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John F. Kennedy, the 35th president, was the youngest to be elected to the office, at 43.
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President Theodore Roosevelt, who succeeded William McKinley after McKinley was assassinated, came into office at 42.
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Eight presidents were left-handed: James A. Garfield, Herbert
Hoover, Harry S. Truman, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush,
Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama.
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John Quincy Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe all died on the Fourth of July.
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6-foot, 4-inches tall President Abraham Lincoln was the tallest
of the bunch. President James Madison, the county’s fourth leader, who
stood at 5-foot, 4-inches tall, was the shortest president.
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The first president to have a Christmas tree in the White House
was Benjamin Harrison in 1889, complete with candles. Harrison was also
the first president to attend a baseball game when he saw the
Cincinnati Reds beat the Washington Senators in 1892.
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The most common religious affiliation among presidents has been Episcopalian, followed by Presbyterian.
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The ancestry of 42 presidents is limited to the following seven
heritages, or some combination thereof: Dutch, English, Irish,
Scottish, Welsh, Swiss or German.
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William Taft started the tradition of the Presidential “first
pitch” of baseball season. The event took place on April 4, 1910, during
an opening day game between the Washington Senators and the
Philadelphia Athletics. Since Taft’s first pitch, every president but
one has opened at least one baseball season during their tenure. The
exception: Jimmy Carter (1977-1981).
