U.S. Presidential Trivia Questions Everyone Gets Wrong

On June 28,1870, he signed legislation making Christmas a federal holiday, as well as New Year’s Day, Independence Day, and Thanksgiving Day. He hoped Christmas and the other holidays would help bond people in the North and South through shared celebrations.

The first Siamese cat to arrive in America was sent as a gift by the American consul in Bangkok. Siam the cat landed at the White House in 1879 after traveling to Hong Kong then San Francisco, and then by train to Washington, DC.

For his official White House portrait, this president chose the famed French portraiture artist Theobald Chartran. He hated the painting and after hiding it in a dark hall of the White House for years, he eventually burned it.

He was the first president born after the American Revolution in Kinderhook, New York on December 5, 1782. The seven presidents before him were all born in the American colonies.

On March 4, 1921 this president became the first to ride to and from his inauguration in an automobile.

This president signed a congressional act creating the United States Marine Band in 1798, which is now the oldest active professional musical organization in the United States. Known as “The President’s Own,” they played the first ever New Year’s celebration at the president’s house and later at Thomas Jefferson’s inauguration.

Old Whitey was nearly as popular as Taylor was—several times while the steed was grazing on the White House lawn, visitors would approach him and pluck a hair from his tail for a souvenir.

Tiffany was hired to to do all of the re-design. To help cover some of the cost, the President had 24 wagon-loads of old furniture, drapes, and other household items (some of which dated back to the Adams administration) sold at auction.

Before being known as the Great Emancipator, this president was known for his disheveled appearance. Newspapers often ridiculed him for it. Some called him “hatchet-faced” and described him as lean and gangly.

He married his wife on July 7, 1946, in their hometown of Plains, Georgia. Their 74-year marriage makes them the longest married of any first couple. The record was previously held by George H.W. Bush and his wife Barbara, who were married for 73 years and died within months of each other in 2018. The third-longest presidential marriage was that of John and Abigail Adams at 54 years.