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Presidents Day: 44 Facts You Didn't Know About U.S. Presidents (PHOTOS)

The Huffington Post     First Posted: 02/17/2012 11:02 am   Updated: 02/17/2012 11:05 am

While most Americans celebrate Presidents Day Weekend metabolizing the high levels of alcohol in their bloodstreams, we want to make sure that you guys actually learn something.

With that in mind, we collected 44 lesser-known facts about the leaders of this nation. Sure, everyone knows the story about President Taft getting stuck in the bathtub, but did you know about Benjamin Harrison's fear of touching light switches? Or FDR's movie credit? Or Gerald Ford's modeling days?

So set aside your political allegiances and take a brief moment to read up on our country's presidents. For without them, we would not have Monday off from work.

Washington's Teeth Weren't Wooden
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Contrary to popular belief, the country's first president had dentures made of gold, ivory, lead, and animal teeth.
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While most Americans celebrate Presidents Day Weekend metabolizing the high levels of alcohol in their bloodstreams, we want to make sure that you guys actually learn something. With that in mind,...
While most Americans celebrate Presidents Day Weekend metabolizing the high levels of alcohol in their bloodstreams, we want to make sure that you guys actually learn something. With that in mind,...
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MammaG
19 Fans
04:35 PM on 02/24/2012
Millard Fillmore looks like Alec Baldwin.
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FalstaffsMind
"This isn't right, this isn't even wrong." - Pauli
751 Fans
12:37 PM on 02/21/2012
A more interesting fact about Jimmy Carter is that he was nuke-trained in the Navy, and was part of a team that worked to stabilize the Chalk River reactor after a partial meltdown. During the work, he was lowered down into the reactor core in protective gear, to help disassemble the reactor.
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FalstaffsMind
"This isn't right, this isn't even wrong." - Pauli
751 Fans
10:50 AM on 02/21/2012
One could argue that Wilson's Ph.D. is no more advanced a degree than that of Juris Doctor. I take the idea that he was most educated with a grain of salt.
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Sarah Tax Auditore
24 Fans
09:52 AM on 02/21/2012
John Quincy Adams once got his clothes stolen while swimming in the Potomac, also.
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logic-a-go-go
348 Fans
10:22 PM on 02/20/2012
I love that our president has read every Harry Potter book.
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OdinsEye
Korean-Latino cop and combat vet
378 Fans
05:48 PM on 02/20/2012
"While most Americans celebrate Presidents Day Weekend metabolizi­­ng the high levels of alcohol in their bloodstrea­­ms, we want to make sure that you guys actually learn something. "

Here is a fact for you: There is no federal holiday called Presidents Day and the federal holiday in question does not honor all presidents or even just Lincoln and Washington­­. The actual holiday is Washington­­'s birthday and it only honors George Washington­­.

I know many think that Wahington and Lincoln's birthdays were combined in 1968/1971 and renamed Presidents Day, but that actually never happened. See Title 5 US Code 6103.
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IfIonlyknew
Politics is Hollywood for ugly people.
1519 Fans
11:24 AM on 02/20/2012
The hand sign that signals Ok,Doesn't mean Ok in any other country.
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Racherach
16 Fans
11:01 AM on 02/20/2012
Andrew Jackson owned 197 slaves. Like Washington's wife Martha, Jackson's wife Rachel could not have children. We all know that the slaves took on the last name of the person that purchased them?
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Racherach
16 Fans
10:58 AM on 02/20/2012
Washington owned 190+ people...slaves.
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Hunter Rock
0 Fans
04:16 AM on 02/20/2012
Its such a nice site, i'am the regular visitor of this web. Its very informative site.

Dental Instruments
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
mheister
Raconteur. Blog michaelheister.com
756 Fans
 
02:32 AM on 02/20/2012
Not only did LBJ like to hold court in the WC, but by some reports the B in LBJ should have stood for "Big".
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
mheister
Raconteur. Blog michaelheister.com
756 Fans
 
02:28 AM on 02/20/2012
I forget the name of it, but there's a great book about McKinley. He was, in many respects, the first modern president - and not just because he interrupted people's dinner begging for votes.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
mheister
Raconteur. Blog michaelheister.com
756 Fans
 
02:26 AM on 02/20/2012
So, to everyone who's still bent about Woody Allen and Soon-Yi -

Where's your outrage over Grover Cleveland???
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
transe
and in the end,,,the love you take is equal to the
346 Fans
 
09:05 AM on 02/20/2012
it was creepy. i've always wondered how cleveland pulled that one off. and i don't care that soon yi is younger than woody allen. she was kind of his step-daughter, which just makes it icky.
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logic-a-go-go
348 Fans
10:24 PM on 02/20/2012
Sounds like the same situation. Neither good, and in fact, both are rather revolting. There you go.
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gidklio
0 Fans
12:42 AM on 02/20/2012
Yeah, what this says about Millard Fillmore actually happened to his great-grandfather John Fillmore. Good try, fake media.
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