What You Probably Didn’t Know About George Washington

Today (February 22), we celebrate the birthday of George Washington, born in 1732.  He was pretty sickly during his life – suffering from malaria, smallpox, pleurisy and dysentery, all before he was 30. He almost drowned twice when he fell into an icy river on his way back from an expedition to a French fort in northwestern Pennsylvania.

The story of how he cut down a cherry tree with his new axe never happened. It was made up by a biographer years after he died. 

His false teeth were not made out of wood.  He had a number of sets of teeth, mainly made of ivory or metal.

Washington was the only American President who never attended college.

His inaugural speech is the shortest in American History. It was only 133 words long.

George Washington was the first president to have his picture displayed on a postage stamp.

Washington carried a portable sundial with him.

He was the only president who didn’t live in Washington. That’s because Philadelphia was the nation’s capitol then.

Washington was the only president to be elected unanimously when he received all 69 electoral votes.

Lincoln was the tallest president at 6-foot-4, but Washington wasn’t too far behind at 6-foot-2. He wore size 13 boots.