- The deadliest job in America is the President of The United States. 46 men have held the title of President. Four of those men were assassinated in office (Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, James A. Garfield, and William McKinley), while four died of natural causes (William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Warren Harding, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt). That is a rate of almost 18 percent, or nearly 1 out of 5 that have died on the job.
- The Statue of Liberty is not located in New York. It is technically in Jersey City, New Jersey.
- The first face on the $1 bill was not George Washington. The first person to appear on this bill was Salmon P. Chase. The first $1 bill was issued during the Civil War in 1862. Chase was the Secretary of Treasury at that time and was also the designer of the country’s first bank notes.
- Uncle Sam was a real person named Samuel Wilson. Wilson was meatpacker in Troy, New York, who fought in the American Revolution. He later became the official meat inspector for the northern army in the War of 1812. Wilson was given the nickname “Uncle Sam” for his good nature. According to historians, when he started providing and inspecting meat for the troops during the War of 1812, the soldiers would joke that the initials “U.S.” label on the barrels stood for Uncle Sam. This idea was eventually expanded to all United States military items with a “U.S.” label and that’s how Uncle Sam was born.
- In Kentucky, there are more bourbon barrels than people. In Kentucky, the number of bourbon barrels outnumbers the state’s population by more than two million. Kentucky is the birthplace of the drink and crafts 95 percent of the world’s bourbon supply. Bourbon is the only native spirit of the United States of America, which was declared by Congress in 1964. In order for an alcohol to be considered bourbon, it must be made with a minimum of 51 percent corn, aged in charred new oak barrels, stored at no more than 125 proof, and bottled no less than 80 proof.
- Harriet Tubman was a war hero. Harriet Tubman escaped slavery but that was not enough to satisfy her desire to help others. She became a conductor for the Underground Railroad, putting her life on the line to lead hundreds of human beings to their freedom. Tubman also fought and led soldiers in the Civil War. She was the first woman to lead an armed excursion in the war, and successfully liberated 700 slaves in the Combahee River Raid.
- Approximately 150 million hot dogs and 700 million pounds of chicken are consumed on the 4th of July.
- The Declaration of Independence was written on a laptop. Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence on a writing desk that could fit over one’s lap. This device was referred to at the time as a “laptop.”
- Benjamin Franklin wanted the United States national bird to be a turkey. He said the bald eagle is a bird of bad moral character, the turkey is a more respectable bird.