Arnold Ringstad - Weird-But-True Facts about U.S. History

Published by The Childs World
1980 Lookout Drive Mankato, MN 56003-1705
800-599-READ www.childsworld.com

Acknowledgments
The Childs World: Mary Berendes, Publishing Director
Red Line Editorial: Editorial direction
The Design Lab: Design
Amnet: Production

Copyright 2013 by The Childs World
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be
reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means
without written permission from the publisher.

ISBN 9781614734215
LCCN 2012946528

Printed in the United States of America
Mankato, MN
November, 2012
PA02143

About the Author

Arnold Ringstad lives in Minneapolis,
Minnesota. He wishes there were
underground moving sidewalks there.

About the Illustrator

A former greeting card artist, Mernie
Gallagher-Cole is a freelance illustrator
with over 28 years experience
illustrating for children. Her charming
illustrations can be found on greeting
cards, party goods, games, puzzles,
children's books, and now e-books and
educational game apps! She lives in
Philadelphia with her husband and
two children.

U.S. history is filled with famous firsts, odd
government activities, and bizarre plans.
The United States has been around for less
than 250 years, but it has already seen
many weird events. From the Emperor of
the United States to abandoned plans for
a dome over New York City, get ready to
learn about these unusual parts of U.S.
history. And dont forget, these facts are
all true!

Only one U.S.
congressperson
voted against U.S.
involvement in both
World War I and
World War II.

Her name was Jeanette Rankin. She
was also the first congresswoman in
U.S. history.

Members of
Congress can
send official
mail for free.

This is known as a
franking privilege.

James Byrnes
served as a U.S.
representative, a U.S.
senator, a Supreme
Court justice, and
the governor of
South Carolina.

He never attended high school
or college.

In 1959, the U.S. vice
president and the
Soviet premier had a
debate in a kitchen.

Richard Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev
were in a model kitchen at a home
exhibition in Moscow, Russia, when they
had the famous debate.

The longest serving
senator was in
office for more
than 51 years.

West Virginia senator Robert C. Byrd
held his seat from January 3, 1959,
until June 28, 2010. Thats 51 years,
five months, and 26 days!

During World War II, the
government ordered that
daylight saving time be
used for the entire year.

Clocks were set one hour ahead of standard time.
This was done to save energy by having fewer
hours that buildings needed to use lights.

The Washington
Monument stood
less than one-third
completed between
1854 and 1877.

Construction began in 1848 but was
delayed due to the U.S. Civil War and a
lack of money. When construction finally
finished in 1884, it reached slightly over
555 feet (169 m) tall. It is still the tallest
stone structure in the world.

A U.S. representative
beat a senator with
a cane in 1856.

They strongly disagreed about the
issue of slavery. Preston Brooks hit
Charles Sumner with a cane until
he was unconscious.

The ironwork in the dome of the
U.S. Capitol building weighs almost
9 million pounds (4 million kg).

This is about as much as 600 elephants. The iron dome was finished in 1866.

In 1970, the
singer Elvis
Presley visited
President
Nixon in the
White House.

Elvis gave the president
gifts, including family
photos and a pistol.

Benjamin Franklin
invented bifocals
because he was tired
of carrying two pairs
of glassesone for
up close viewing and
one to see far away.

Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk
on the moon, had experience flying
more than 200 types of airplanes.

He also flew two kinds of spacecraft, Gemini 8 and Apollo 11.

In 2004, computer
tycoon Bill Gates
received 4 million
e-mails per day.

The singer Michael
Jackson sold more than
750 million records
while he was alive.

This is the most of any solo artist.

John Glenn, the
first American to
orbit Earth, later
became the oldest
person to ever fly
in space.

He flew on the Space Shuttle
Discovery in 1998 at the age of 77.

Baseball player Babe Ruth put
leaves of lettuce under his hat
to keep cool during games.

The author Mark
Twains real
name was Samuel
Langhorne Clemens.

Other pen names he used were Thomas
Jefferson Snodgrass and Josh.

The city of
Philadelphia
almost got rid of
the Liberty Bell.

In 1828, the Pennsylvania city
rebuilt the tower on top of the
State House building. They paid a
bell maker $400 for a new bell, and
he was supposed to take away the
old bell. However, he argued that
the bell was more expensive to haul
away than it was worth, so he left
it. Later, his heirs argued that they