History Chalk Talk: Fun Facts About U.S. Presidents

Monday, February 20, 2017

Fun Facts About U.S. Presidents

What better day than "President's Day" to write about Presidential fun facts! But first, a little about the holiday itself - President's Day was first established in 1885 in recognition of George Washington's birthday. Actually, it's still officially called "Washington's Birthday" by the Federal Government. It is always celebrated on the third Monday in February.

Now for the fun facts - Your students might get a kick out of them!

1. The Capital of Liberia was named after President James Monroe. Since Monroe was a big supporter of colonization of Liberia, they decided to name the capital after him.
2. Andrew Jackson taught his Parrot to curse. It actually cursed so much during Jackson's funeral the parrot had to be removed.
3. The phrase "OK" became popular because of President Van Buren. Many of his supporters joined groups called "O.K." clubs, named after the town he was from, "Old Kinderhook" in New York. The term "OK" came to mean "all right".
4. The "S" in Harry S Truman doesn't stand for anything. That's why it doesn't have a period after it.
5. President Bush Sr vomited on the Prime Minister of Japan. Bad sushi?
6. Eisenhower was the only U.S. President to serve in both World War I and World War II.
7. The "Teddy Bear" was named after "Teddy" Roosevelt after a toy company created a stuffed bear in response to Roosevelt refusing to shoot a bear cub.
8. Gerald Ford worked as a model during college.
9. President Kennedy was the first president to be born in the 20th Century and the first Catholic President.
10. Barack Obama's name means, "one who is blessed" in Swahili.

Are you looking for some Presidential teaching activities? Check out these engaging lessons for your secondary classroom: