Posted on 10/23/2001 1:54:11 PM PDT by HopieAnn
Hi Everyone,
I'm normally just a lurker. But I figured I'd come to the best place I can think of for information. I need info for my 10 year old son's report on George Washington.
I was hoping to get some short, different, interesting kind of stories, maybe ones not commonly known about him and his life. Any help/links would be gratefully appreciated. He's having a heck of a time.
Thanks
Hope
BTW, I'd love to help you out, but George Washington was a little before my time, so I never knew him socially.
sw
Check out the Mount Vernon site.
There are a lot of websites that can be found by searching, and believe it or not there are still such things as public libraries.
Sorry to sound harsh but it just seems to me that we parents are doing a bit too much "enabling" these days.
Hope this helps. It'll surely get the teacher's attention (which may or may not be a bad thing)
:) ttt
I think you might find out more about GW than you'll want to pass on to your son, if this thread stays bumped....:~)
sw
Ought to be enough for a 10 year old.
Start with www.google.com and type in George Washington. You may want to do a search on Martha. Wives always have the interesting information. Don't do this without your son! Good Luck.
George Washington had to borrow money to go to his own inauguration.
George Washington who commanded the Continental Army as a four-star general was promoted posthumously to the position of six-star "General of the Armies of Congress" by an order of Jimmy Carter, who felt America's first President should also be America's highest military official.
When George Washington was elected President, there was a king in France, a czarina in Russia, an emperor in China, and a shogun in Japan. Only the office of President remains.
Washington was the first President to appear on a postage stamp.
Washington was one of two Presidents that signed the U.S. Constitution.
George Washington was a half first cousin twice removed of James Madison, a second cousin seven times removed of Queen Elizabeth II, a third cousin twice removed of Robert E. Lee, and an eighth cousin six times removed of Winston Churchill.
Washington was the only president elected unanimously, receiving all 69 of the electoral votes cast.
At his inauguration, Washington had only one tooth. At various times he wore dentures made of human or animal teeth, ivory or lead -- never wood.
Washington refused to wear a powdered wig, which was high fashion in the late 1700s. Instead, he powdered his red-brown hair and ties it in a short braid down his back.
Washington carried a portable sundial.
Washington's inauguration speech was 183 words long and took 90 seconds to read. This was because of his false teeth.
The six white horses in Washington's stables had their teeth brushed every morning on Washington's orders.
The nation's capital was located in Philadelphia during Washington's administration making him the only president who didn't live in Washington, D.C. during his presidency.
Washington loved to help fight fires.
Washington's favorite sport was fox hunting.
George Washington was born on February 11, 1731. Over twenty years later, in 1752, Great Britain and its American colonies switched calendars from Julian to Gregorian. This switch eliminated eleven days from September of that year: September 2 was followed by September 14. At the same time, New Year's Day was changed from March 25 to January 1. Since then, historians have said that Washington was born in 1732, and the anniversary of his birth has been celebrated on February 22.
Washington's face was scarred from smallpox.
Washington was the first man in American history to be a Lieutenant General.
Washington was the only president to die in the 1700s.
George Washington had two ice cream freezers installed at his home in Mount Vernon.
George Washington left no direct descendant. Though his wife Martha had four children by a previous marriage., Washington never sired a child to continue his line.
He was probably named after George Eskridge, a lawyer in whose charge Washington's mother had been left when she was orphaned.
Washington once issued an order that forbade swearing throughout the U.S. Army.
Washington wore size thirteen boots.
Lots of things happened to Washington on Fridays. It was on a Friday that he:
was born
was commissioned lieutenant colonel in the military
took command of the Army of Virginia
was elected Commander-in-Chief
established the US Marine Corps
fought the Battle of Princeton
won the Battle of Yorktown
was elected President of the Constitutional Convention
created the War Department
appointed his first cabinet officer, Alexander Hamilton
established the Federal seat of government
proclaimed Thanksgiving
laid the cornerstone of the White House
completed his last presidential term
accepted his second commission as Commander-in-Chief
Washington used to take a boat from Mount Vernon to Washington D.C. to get to work.
He would often get his "e's" and "i's" mixed up, he would spell words like blue as blew, and oil as oyl.
Washington's IQ was estimated to be about 125.
He was a very loud snorer.
How about those newfangled quills?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.