President's Day Isn't Really President's Day, and Other Facts

How much do you know about President’s Day and our country’s presidents? Here are some fun facts.

• Technically, the federal holiday that is celebrated on the third Monday in February is not called President’s Day, but rather Washington’s Birthday. However, several states have chosen to call the holiday “President’s Day.” 
• George Washington has 31 counties, 17 towns, and the nation’s capital and state named in his honor. 
• Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both signed the Declaration of Independence, and both died on July 4, 1826, 50 years after the signing.
• James Monroe also died on the 4th of July, in 1831. Calvin Coolidge was born on July 4, 1872.
• George Washington did not wear fake wooden teeth, but he did have just one tooth at this inauguration. He wore dentures over the years made of human teeth, animal teeth, lead, and ivory. 
• John Tyler was a grand-uncle of Harry Truman, and after the Whig party disowned him for vetoing bank bills supported by the Whigs, he served as president without being a member of a political party.
• Theodore Roosevelt was the first U.S. president to travel outside the country, and lost sight in one eye while boxing in the White House.
• When Rutherford B. Hayes was president, Alexander Graham Bell came to the White House and installed the first telephone there.
• John F. Kennedy was the only president to win a Pulitzer Prize, which he received for Profiles in Courage.
• Abraham Lincoln was the tallest president at 6’4”, while James Madison was the shortest, standing at 5’4”.
• Ulysses S. Grant was arrested and fined $20 for riding his horse too fast.
• Grover Cleveland’s daughter, Esther, was the only child of a president born in the White House.
• Franklin D. Roosevelt was a stamp collector, and received the first sheet of every new commemorative issue.
• James Garfield was the first left-handed president, and the last of seven presidents born in a log cabin.
• William Henry Harrison was the only president who studied to become a doctor.
• Millard Fillmore installed the first bathtub and kitchen stove in the White House.
• Gerald Ford was the first president to release a full report of his medical checkup to the public.
• Washington’s Birthday was a holiday celebrated during Washington’s lifetime, but it was not a federal holiday until 1885.
• Lincoln’s birthday (February 12) is not a federal holiday, but is often celebrated as part of President’s Day.