12 Interesting Facts About Abraham Lincoln You May Not Have Known
February 12, 1809 marks the birthdate of one of our most revered presidents. Here are 12 interesting and maybe not-so-well-known facts about our 16th president.
With an estimated 15,000 books written about Lincoln, much is known about his life, but here are 12 interesting and maybe not-so-well-known facts about our 16th president.
12 Interesting Facts About Abraham Lincoln
- Lincoln read the Farmers’ Almanac and used it in a murder trial in 1858. With his trusty Farmers’ Almanac in hand, Lincoln proved that on the night of the murder, the moon was low in the sky, contradicting the chief witness who said he saw the murder committed at night by the light of the moon. Case closed.
- Lincoln’s 11-year-old son, Willie, died in February of 1862. The Lincolns were so pleased with the embalming results by Dr. Charles Brown that they had their son exhumed twice so they could review his remains again.
- The first woman executed by the U.S. government was Mary Surratt who was involved in the Lincoln assassination.
- In the presidential election of 1860, Lincoln came in a distant last place in his home state of Kentucky with less than 1% of the vote. In his wife’s home county where her large and influential family lived, he only received 5 votes.
- The first person killed in the Civil War was Col. Elmer Ellsworth, who was a law student in Lincoln’s Springfield, Illinois, office.
- Lincoln was a pet lover and especially fond of his cat “Tabby.” He fed his cat at the White House table with a gold fork. When Mrs. Lincoln objected, Lincoln said: “If it was good enough for Buchanan (his predecessor), it is good enough for Tabby.”
- On October 3rd of 1863, Lincoln established the third Thursday of November to be a national holiday to celebrate Thanksgiving.
- Lincoln read the Bible daily and referred to it liberally in many speeches, but he never joined any organized church.
- Abraham Lincoln (no middle name) was named after his paternal grandfather who was killed in 1786, near what is now Louisville, Kentucky.
- Lincoln was the first president to have his image on a U.S. coin, the 1909 penny, which commemorated his 100th birthday. The penny was redesigned on his 150th and 200th birthday.
- Lincoln’s coffin has been opened five different times, first in December of 1865, and last in September of 1901. Witnesses in 1901 said his remains were well preserved.
- The greatest speaker of the day, Edward Everett was the featured speaker at the dedication of the Gettysburg Battlefield ceremony. He delivered a two-hour speech with 13,607 words. Lincoln was invited to attend the ceremony at the last minute and was asked to make “a few appropriate remarks.” His two-minute, less-than-300-word speech, The Gettysburg Address, is one of the greatest American speeches of all time.
Bob Farmer
Bob Farmer is a popular speaker, humorist, and motivator. His name and talent make it a natural partnership with North America's most respected publication and brand, Farmers' Almanac. Visit Bob's website at www.bobfarmer.com.
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Bob Farmer#molongui-disabled-link
Fact #9.
The Farmers Almanac lists that Abraham Lincoln’s paternal Grandfather was killed near Louisville, Kentucky in 1786.
It did not include that he was killed during an Indian attack.
I remember learning this in elementary school.
The attached source is from Wikipedia .
Whoever wrote these “ fun facts “ for this Farmers Almanac chose to omit this detail.
I think it’s better to have more fact’s , then evaluate the information about their life in the context of the time they lived in.
Greatly enjoyed this wonderful Article an all the facts about President Abraham Lincoln .
You are totally wrong miss thornburg. You need to read more and talk/write less.
What are the sources of your facts? Please cite them.
He was a man of his time and there were things he did that we would not agree with today. He was a great man in a very difficult time.
Barbara Thornburg: Why don’t you do a little research before spewing such crap? For your information, it was put forth to Lincoln to sentence these people to death. He worked very hard to spare them and in the end was able to save MOST of them. Most, but not all. The ones who murdered a bunch of civilians were eventually executed, as not allowing for it proved impossible. So now I’m shaking my head that people just blindly repeat some crap someone else spit out just because it sounds good. Go read a book.
I went to Gettysburg during one of my many visits to USA. I found the place to be very interesting. Thank you for posting these facts. Abraham was certainly a great and respected gentleman.
Loved reading this article. And yes Lincoln ordered 303 American Indians hung. Not all were hung only 38. There is a article on this at the History Channel everyone should read it.
He also ordered the murderous hanging of 300 plus Indigenous men. SMH. He is no hero.
Interesting. Enjoyed reading this♥
Very interesting.
Please send the piece about the similarities between Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy. Thank you.
Thanks, interesting…
Greatly enjoyed the little known facts. Thank you for posting these. Abraham Lincoln has been a fascinating historical figure for me all my life, and my favorite president.
Thank you for posting these little known facts. They are very interesting.