The American Revolution was initially motivated by political representation within the British Empire rather than independence. Complete…

Calvin Coolidge received a raccoon as a gift intended for the holiday meal, but he pardoned it and kept it as a White House pet instead.

In 1856, Representative Preston Brooks attacked Senator Charles Sumner with a cane so severely that Sumner took three years to recover.

William Howard Taft, weighing over 300 pounds, famously got wedged in the presidential bathtub and required help to get out.

James Buchanan remained a bachelor throughout his life, making him the only president to never take a wife.

Andrew Jacksons pet parrot Poll had to be removed from the presidents funeral because it would not stop cursing.

William Henry Harrison died of pneumonia just one month after his inauguration, making his the briefest term in office.

Before becoming president, Lincoln co-owned a general store that sold alcohol and held a liquor license in New Salem, Illinois.

During the War of 1812, British forces set fire to the White House, forcing President James Madison to flee.

John Quincy Adams received an alligator as a gift and reportedly kept it in the East Room bathtub for several months.

The future president grew up in poverty and received almost no formal education, teaching himself to read as a teenager.

Ulysses S. Grant was stopped and fined multiple times for riding his horse too fast through the streets of Washington.

Franklin D. Roosevelts Scottish Terrier Fala received so much fan mail that he needed a dedicated staff member to handle it.

Gerald Ford faced two separate assassination attempts within 17 days in 1975, both by women.