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- U.S. President Millard Fillmore's mother feared he may have been mentally retarded.
- Theodore Roosevelt's mother and first wife died on the same day in 1884.
- Alexander the Great was tutored by Aristotle.
- Galileo became totally blind just before his death. This is probably because of his constant gazing at the sun through his telescope.
- O.J. Simpson had a severe case of rickets and wore leg braces when he was a child.
- Mark Twain first learned to ride a bicycle at age 55.
- Vincent Van Gogh painted his last painting, "Cornfield with Crows," and shot himself at age 37.
- Ice Cube's real name is O'Shea Jackson.
- Actor Robert De Niro played the part of the Cowardly Lion in his elementary schools production of The Wizard of Oz. De Niro was 10 at the time.
- During a stage revival of the musical The King and I, star Yul Brynner reportedly acted like a prima donna, making frustrating demands of the cast and crew. One incident that escalated the friction was the London Palladium's backstage pay phone. Brynner said the phone's ringing woke him during naps, so he requested a private phone be installed in his newly redecorated dressing room (which cost $65,000 to make-over). He then had the public phone disconnected. Reportedly, cast members retaliated by pouring glue on his dressing room doorknob.
- I suppose someone should mention that Mae West never said "Come up and see me sometime." She said "Come on up sometime and see me." Cary Grant never said "Judy, Judy, Judy," and Cagney never said "You dirty rat..."
- While we're at it, Marie Antoinette never said "Let them eat cake." That callous phrase was originally (falsely) attributed to the wife of Louis XIV, the Sun King, two generations before the Austrian daughter of Maria Theresa ever made the trip to France. It bred a lot of bad feelings, but she never said it. What she DID say, as she walked up the stairs to the guillotine and stepped on the foot of the executioner, was "Forgive me sir. I did not mean to do it."
- Mary Todd once dated both Abe Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. She chose Lincoln because he showed more promise, and she was right - he was good at everything but ducking.
- Robert E. Lee, of the Confederate Army, remains the only person, to date, to have graduated from the West Point military academy without a single demerit.
- So far, nine presidents were elected in years divisible by 20. Six died before their term ended: William Henry Harrison (1840), Lincoln (1860), Garfield (1880), McKinley (1900), Harding (1920), and Kennedy (1960). Franklin D. Roosevelt was reelected in 1940 but died in 1945, after his 1944 reelection. So that's really seven out of nine. Maybe they should be running from, not for the office this year.
- James Garfield, 20th President of the United States, lived in the White House with his mother.
- Although John F. Kennedy was reportedly an accomplished yo-yo player, the yo-yo that has commanded the highest price at auction was autographed by President Nixon. This yo-yo was given to "King of Country Music" Roy Acuff onstage at the Grand Ole Opry in 1972, after Nixon introduced Acuff's act. Acuff was famous for yo-yoing on stage and encouraged the President to try. Luckily, the President's awkward performance was captured in a classic news wire photo. The yo-yo fetched $16,029.00 at Acuff's estate auction.
- Abraham Lincoln's political experience before he became president was a two year term in the House of Representatives.
- After telling the press he was an expert in hand gestures, President George Bush gave the "V-for-Victory" sign as he drove in his armored limousine past demonstrators in Canberra, Australia's capital in January 1992. In Australia, holding up two fingers to form a "V" has the same vulgar meaning as the middle-finger gesture in the United States. The Aussie demonstrators were enraged, and they signaled in the same manner back at the U.S. President. Pres. Bush later apologized for his faux pas.
- Alexander Hamilton has been credited with writing George Washington's famous Farewell Address.
- Johnny Carson was born in Corning, Iowa and grew up in Norfolk, Nebraska.
- Against Army regulations, George Armstrong Custer often wore a blue velvet uniform.
- Prince Harry and Prince William are uncircumcised.
- Walt Disney named Mickey Mouse after Mickey Rooney, whose mother he dated for some time.
- Theodore Roosevelt, a staunch conservationist, banned Christmas trees in his home, even when he lived in the White House. His children, however, smuggled them into their bedrooms.
- The first Michelin Man costume (Bidenbum) was worn by none other than Col. Harlan Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame.
- William Howard Taft is the only man ever to be President AND Chief Justice. The US Supreme Court appointment came second and was a job Taft enjoyed much more than the presidency.
- W.C. Fields, the great 1930s movie comedian and famous misanthrope, died on Christmas, the holiday he despised. Of all the notable quotes that issued from this notorious curmudgeon, the most often quoted, said to be from his California tombstone, is "All things considered, I'd rather be in Philadelphia."
- Did you know that Goofy actually started life as 'Dippy Dawg,' a combination of both Goofy and Pluto.
- In January 1950, actor John Wayne placed his hand prints in wet cement at Grumman's Chinese Theatre (now Mann's Chinese Theatre) in Hollywood. Sand used in the cement reportedly was brought from Iwo Jima, in tribute to his performance in the 1949 film "Sands of Iwo Jima". This event marked the 90th such ceremony in the "Forecourt of the Stars" at the famous theater.
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