Lincoln Trivia

Some belated (sorry, 'bout that) trivia about our 16th President, whose 200th birthday anniversary was celebrated this week:

Lincoln was the only President ever to obtain a patent. In 1849 he invented a complicated device for lifting ships over dangerous shoals by means of "buoyant air chambers." Much to Lincoln's disappointment, U.S. Patent No. 6,469 was never put into practical use.

The clutter in Lincoln's law office was notorious, and a continual source of irritation to his partner, William Herndon. On his desk, Lincoln kept one envelope marked "When you can't find it anywhere else, look into this."

In 1858, Lincoln was so concerned that the text of his "House divided" speech be reported accurately, that even after he had given a copy of the address to reporters, he insisted on going to the newspaper office himself and proofreading the galleys.

Counties in 18 U.S. states are named after Lincoln. (Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico (where I live), Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, West Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming)

He was the first president to be photographed at his inauguration. His assassin, John Wilkes Booth, can be seen standing among the crowd in the picture. (I looked up the picture, and it would be very difficult recognize anything,, so I didn’t bother to post it here.)

He was the first President to be assassinated and to lie in state.

Lincoln was the first president to have a beard while in office. He grew his beard out of the suggestion of a letter from 11 year old Grace Bedell from Westfield, New York in the fall of 1860.

In 1836, 24-years before he became president, Lincoln was the first elected official in U.S. history to favor extending the vote to women. Illinois state legislator Lincoln gave an area newspaper a statement endorsing "female suffrage."

In 1863, Lincoln declared the final Thursday in November to be a day of Thanksgiving, and the holiday has been celebrated annually at that time ever since. Prior to Lincoln's presidency, the Thanksgiving holiday, while a regional holiday in New England since the 17th century, had only been proclaimed by the federal government sporadically, the last such proclamation having come during James Madison's presidency.