Shari Della Penna
  • Home
  • About
    • My family
    • My work
    • My favorites
    • FAQ's
  • Contact
  • Blog

"Small acts of kindness can change and humanise our world."
   Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks 1948-2020
   ​Chief Rabbi of Great Britain, 1991-2020
                         Author, Advocate, Advisor

George Washington and His Teeth

2/23/2016

0 Comments

 
     Throughout his life George had many sets of false teeth made from different materials: hippopotamus, walrus, and elephant ivory and cow elk, and human teeth. But he never had a set of wooden teeth.
                     from the back matter in George Washington’s Teeth
                                by Deborah Chandra and Madeleine Comora
                                                      illustrated by Brock Cole

       Because February is National Children’s Dental Health Month, and yesterday was the celebration of George Washington’s real (226th) birthday, I’m putting the wooden teeth story to rest. George never had wooden teeth.
                                           
  • George Washington was six feet, two inches and wore size thirteen shoes.
  • George Washington attended school on and off until he was fifteen. He was always good with numbers and became a surveyor.
  • George Washington was appointed commander in chief of the American Army in April 1775, at the beginning of the Revolutionary War. He was 43 years old. He was not paid.
  • One of his most important qualities was his strength of character. He fought with his men (they were all men in those days) and suffered through deprivations of necessities like food and warm clothing as well as guns, ammunition.
  • George Washington became our first president not by a landslide, but by a unanimous vote, the only unanimous vote so far.
  • As the country’s first millionaire, he declined the offered salary of $25,000. per year.
  • He was sixty-five years old when he refused a third term and returned to the life he loved at Mount Vernon.
  • George Washington was “first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen,” according to one of his old generals, Lighthorse Harry Lee.
       On President’s Day, we tend to lump all our presidents together. Maybe some are worth a day of their own.
Sources:
Blassingame, Wyatt. The Look-It-Up Book of Presidents. 2008, Random House.
Kathleen Krull. Lives of the Presidents: Fame, Shame (and What the Neighbors Thought). 1998, Harcourt, Brace and Company.

                                                                   --stay curious!
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

         I'm a children's writer and poet intent on observing the world and nurturing those I find in my small space .

    Archives

    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly