Presidential Trivia
What does the “S” stand for in President Harry S. Truman’s name? It doesn’t stand for anything. Both his grandfathers had names beginning with “S.” Rather than insult one or the other, no middle name was attached to the “S.”
If you already knew that answer, then you must like presidential trivia. In honor of President’s Day, here are more brain teasers.
Who were the only two U.S. presidents who took the title of “Commander in Chief” into battle while president? During the British siege of Washington, D. C., James Madison took command of troops at Brandenburg, Maryland on August 25, 1814. George Washington donned his Revolutionary War uniform, raised an army of more than 10,000 men, and quelled the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794.
Speaking of Washington, his presidential salary was $25,000. Who was the first president to receive a raise? The salary of the president is established by Congress. Not until 1873 did Ulysses S. Grant become the first to receive a raise when his salary was increased to $50,000.
Many presidents have been baseball fans. William Howard Taft started the tradition of throwing out the first pitch to start the major league baseball season in 1910. The first president to welcome a major league baseball team to the White House was Ulysses S. Grant, when he hosted the Cincinnati Red Stockings in 1869. The first president to invite a championship team, the 1886 Chicago White Stockings, to the White House was Grover Cleveland.
What president coached college football and helped save the game from being banned? That would be Princeton professor Woodrow Wilson, the only president who earned a Ph.D. He is also the only president buried in Washington, D.C. (in the National Cathedral).
On the macabre subject of burials, did you know that Theodore Roosevelt’s mother and wife died on the same day (Valentine’s Day) in the same house in 1884? Franklin Pierce’s wife stayed in her home state and did not attend his inauguration in 1853 because she was mourning the recent loss of their son.
Two words in the English language originated in the presidential election of 1840: booze and OK. The E.C. Booz Distillery of Philadelphia shipped large loads of “Old Cabin Whiskey” – a.k.a. booze – in bottles shaped like log cabins to support William Henry Harrison. The phrase “OK” began to circulate in Boston in 1839 as shorthand for “oll correct,” a slang way of saying “all right.” Van Buren supporters used the trendy expression as a way to identify their candidate as “Old Kinkerhook.” Van Buren even wrote “OK” next to his signature. It spread like wildfire across the nation.
Van Buren also was the first president who was born an American citizen (in 1782), but ironically he who grew up in New York speaking Dutch rather than English at home – the only president who was raised speaking a foreign language.
Obscure presidential trivia is fun. Now that you know which president is buried in Grant’s Tomb and what color Washington’s white horse was, have a happy President’s Day.
Brother Rogers is a guest columnist for the Starkville Daily News and works at the Stennis Center for Public Service.
If you already knew that answer, then you must like presidential trivia. In honor of President’s Day, here are more brain teasers.
Who were the only two U.S. presidents who took the title of “Commander in Chief” into battle while president? During the British siege of Washington, D. C., James Madison took command of troops at Brandenburg, Maryland on August 25, 1814. George Washington donned his Revolutionary War uniform, raised an army of more than 10,000 men, and quelled the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794.
Speaking of Washington, his presidential salary was $25,000. Who was the first president to receive a raise? The salary of the president is established by Congress. Not until 1873 did Ulysses S. Grant become the first to receive a raise when his salary was increased to $50,000.
Many presidents have been baseball fans. William Howard Taft started the tradition of throwing out the first pitch to start the major league baseball season in 1910. The first president to welcome a major league baseball team to the White House was Ulysses S. Grant, when he hosted the Cincinnati Red Stockings in 1869. The first president to invite a championship team, the 1886 Chicago White Stockings, to the White House was Grover Cleveland.
What president coached college football and helped save the game from being banned? That would be Princeton professor Woodrow Wilson, the only president who earned a Ph.D. He is also the only president buried in Washington, D.C. (in the National Cathedral).
On the macabre subject of burials, did you know that Theodore Roosevelt’s mother and wife died on the same day (Valentine’s Day) in the same house in 1884? Franklin Pierce’s wife stayed in her home state and did not attend his inauguration in 1853 because she was mourning the recent loss of their son.
Two words in the English language originated in the presidential election of 1840: booze and OK. The E.C. Booz Distillery of Philadelphia shipped large loads of “Old Cabin Whiskey” – a.k.a. booze – in bottles shaped like log cabins to support William Henry Harrison. The phrase “OK” began to circulate in Boston in 1839 as shorthand for “oll correct,” a slang way of saying “all right.” Van Buren supporters used the trendy expression as a way to identify their candidate as “Old Kinkerhook.” Van Buren even wrote “OK” next to his signature. It spread like wildfire across the nation.
Van Buren also was the first president who was born an American citizen (in 1782), but ironically he who grew up in New York speaking Dutch rather than English at home – the only president who was raised speaking a foreign language.
Obscure presidential trivia is fun. Now that you know which president is buried in Grant’s Tomb and what color Washington’s white horse was, have a happy President’s Day.
Brother Rogers is a guest columnist for the Starkville Daily News and works at the Stennis Center for Public Service.