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(#1) Benjamin Franklin Volunteered For The Fire Department
Benjamin Franklin not only gave birth to the United States and invented all kinds of stuff you've probably heard of, like bifocals, he also put out literal fires. Franklin not only established America's first volunteer fire department, but he was a firefighter himself and volunteered after witnessing a local blaze.
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(#2) Benjamin Franklin Invented Your Rocking Chair
Here's just one of many cool Benjamin Franklin inventions. Back in the 1700s, Franklin fitted his armchair's legs with curved wooden pieces, giving him credit for the invention of the rocking chair. And it's not a huge surprise. Franklin also figured out electricity, so clearly he had all kinds of tricks up his sleeve.
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(#3) Benjamin Franklin Could Yell At You In Six Languages
In more Ben Franklin news, America's oldest founding father was also a linguaphile. No, that doesn't mean anything dirty – it means he loved languages. In addition to English, Franklin spoke French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Latin. Now that's a good education.
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(#4) Thomas Jefferson Had 6,500 Books
Thomas Jefferson was such a hoarder of books that he once said "I cannot live without books." Don't believe him? This Founding Father helped create the Library of Congress. In its early years, Jefferson sold his collection of 6,500 books to the Library of Congress for almost $24,000.
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(#5) John Adams Went to Harvard... At The Age Of 16
Most people get rejected from Harvard, but not John Adams. In fact, he put every student in the United States to shame by attending the prestigious school when he was only sixteen, almost a colonial Doogie Howser. Adams graduated within four years and excelled at his studies.
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(#6) George Washington = World Class Dancer
Most people don't think of the Founding Fathers as a very celebratory bunch, but that would be the wrong impression. In fact, the first president of the United States happened to be a damn good dancer. Dancing was one of the many activities George Washington loved to do with his wife Martha, and he even studied formal dancing as a teenage boy. Thankfully, he didn't become a professional dancer, or history might have looked very different.
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(#7) Vanilla Ice Cream Was Thomas Jefferson's Jam
The Founding Fathers may have predated the first ice cream parlors by a century, but even in the colonial era, they couldn't get enough of the frozen treat. Just like Ronald Reagan loved jelly beans and Bill Clinton loved fast food, Thomas Jefferson was obsessed with ice cream. In fact, his love of vanilla ice cream became history, as the first known recipe written down in the United States was Jefferson's vanilla ice cream recipe. George Washington also loved ice cream, and spent $200 on ice cream equipment in 1790.
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(#8) James Madison Weighed 100 Pounds
America's smallest Founding Father was James Madison. He was a very little man, standing at just 5'4". In addition to being the shortest president ever, Madison never weighed more than 100 pounds, making him practically pocket sized.
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(#9) James Madison And Thomas Jefferson Were Arrested Together
James Madison and Thomas Jefferson didn't just found America together, they were arrested together, too! The crime? Joy riding in a carriage on the Lord's Day. The Founding Fathers were caught riding on a Sunday, which was illegal in Vermont. Both future presidents were arrested by the police.
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(#10) Benjamin Frankllin Wrote A Letter About Farts To The Royal Academy Of Brussels
Benjamin Franklin loved farting. And that's a historical fact. In 1781, he wrote a paper titled "Fart Proudly" (or, less excitingly "A Letter To A Royal Academy" and "To the Royal Academy of Farting") while he was living abroad, serving as US Ambassador to France.
The essay suggested that research should be done looking into improving the odor of human farts. The best part? He ended the essay with a fart pun (!), writing that compared to the practical applications of this discussion, other sciences were "scarcely worth a FART-HING."
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(#11) Thomas Jefferson Had A Pet Bird Named Dick
Thomas Jefferson kept pet mockingbirds and was the first to have a pet in the White House. One of his birds was named Dick. Jefferson kept the bird in his study, and Dick just so happened to be the Founding Father's favorite. Unfortunately, history does not record whether Jefferson used his bird to make dick jokes.
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(#12) George Washington's Mommy Wouldn't Let Him Join The Navy
The most powerful man in the world was evidently not more powerful than his mother. When George Washington wanted to join the British Navy at the ripe old age of 14, his mother, Mary Ball Washington, refused to let him do so.
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(#13) Alexander Hamilton's Son Also Died In A Duel
Like father, like son. Founding Father Alexander Hamilton's 19-year-old son Phillip decided to challenge George I. Eacker (a lawyer who had dissed his dad) to a duel. Years before the ten dollar Founding Father died during a duel with Vice President Aaron Burr, Phillip was also shot and killed in a duel. In fact, Philip's duel took place on the exact same dueling grounds of Weehawken, NJ.
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(#14) It Took Two Centuries To Establish The Hamilton House Memorial
Alexander Hamilton might have helped found the United States, serving as George Washington's chief staff aide and the first Secretary of the Treasury, but it still took over 200 years to get a location for his monument. "The Grange" was a house originally built in 1802. It was relocated to memorialize Hamilton after his death in 1804. Finally, in 2008, the Grange was moved to St. Nicholas Park where it stands as a memorial to Hamilton.
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(#15) John Jay Quit Politics And Became A Farmer
It's strange but true: John Jay and Dave Chappelle have a lot in common. They both left their careers at the pinnacle of fame and moved to a farm to chill out. While Chappelle left comedy for Yellow Springs, Ohio, John Jay decided to leave politics entirely and retire in at his farm in Bedford, NY. After serving as governor of New York and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Jay probably deserved the break.
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(#16) James Madison Married A Woman 17 Years Younger Than Him
James Madison had a May-December romance with his future first lady, Dolley Madison. When the two married in 1794, Dolley Payne Todd was a full seventeen years younger than the future president. But the marriage worked out well for both, and Dolley became one of the most beloved first ladies in history.
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(#17) Alexander Hamilton Was An Orphaned Shipping Clerk
Before Alexander Hamilton made a name for himself in the military, he came from practically nothing. By the age of 13, Hamilton was an orphan living in the Caribbean, and he was considered a bastard because his father abandoned his mother. So Hamilton created his own future: he took a job as a shipping clerk while writing at night. His writing was so powerful that it earned him a ticket to New York and Columbia University.
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(#18) John Jay Married A 17-Year-Old
John Jay wasn't just a diplomat, a Supreme Court Justice, and a politician. He also married a much younger woman. In 1774, Jay was close to thirty, and his bride, Sarah Livingston, was only seventeen. Teen weddings were more common in the colonial era, but it's still quite the age gap.
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(#19) James Madison Had 12 Younger Siblings
James Madison wasn't the only Madison running around in the colonial era. In fact, the future president had twelve younger siblings. Apparently the being the first born made James a natural leader. Sadly, almost half of his siblings died before reaching adulthood.
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About This Tool
Founding fathers are the most influential people in American history. Creating a country is not easy, and these founding fathers also have a dark history. We cannot deny that the great founding fathers guided the development of the United States. Every founding father made a unique contribution to the people and to the people's democratic government. But we need to review the American Revolution with critical thinking. The fact is that these founding fathers are not always so noble.
These leaders worked together to determine a viable government framework, but they also made some cruel and dark moves in the process of taking power and promoting the revolution. The random tool shares 19 little-known things about the American founding fathers.
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