1Creation of Secret Service
Abraham Lincoln created the secret service just hours before he was assassinated.
2. In 1862, Abraham Lincoln wanted to deport free African Americans to Brazil. The plan failed because Brazil said no.
3. Abraham Lincoln set the national day for Thanksgiving in 1863 partially to celebrate “the advancing armies and navies of the Union.“
4. Abraham Lincoln suffered from a lifelong “melancholy,” a condition we now call clinical depression. His suffering was so severe, that his community had to put him under a “suicide watch.” He also refused to carry a knife, because he feared he would harm himself.
5. Abraham Lincoln had very little formal schooling and was largely self-educated.
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6Suspending Habeas Corpus
During the Civil War, Lincoln suspended habeas corpus and oversaw mass arrests of up to 38,000 antiwar protesters and journalists in the North.
7. Abraham Lincoln suffered from many visual problems, including strabismus, which made it difficult for him to look people in the eye. He also switched between multiple pairs of glasses for various uses due to farsightedness
8. Whenever Abraham Lincoln felt the urge to tell someone off, he would compose a “hot letter.” He’d pile all of his anger into a note and put it aside until his emotions cooled down. He would then write: ‘Never sent. Never signed.’
9. Abraham Lincoln's religious views are highly ambiguous and a matter of debate. He never joined any Church, and was a skeptic as a young man and sometimes ridiculed revivalists. Many friends and family of Lincoln rejected that he was a believing Christian.
10. Abraham Lincoln donated $10 to Ireland during the Great Famine.
11Dual Citizenship
Abraham Lincoln had dual citizenship. His second citizenship was granted to him by the San Marino government at the beginning of the American Civil War.
12. Abraham Lincoln is the only president in U.S. history to also have been a licensed bartender.
13. Abraham Lincoln arrested pro-confederate members of Maryland's legislature as they were headed to a vote on whether Maryland would secede from the Union, in order to prevent Maryland from seceding.
14. Abraham Lincoln was a big fan of John Wilkes Booth and even invited him to The White House once.
15. Abraham Lincoln did not invite his father, Thomas Lincoln, to his wedding nor did he ever introduce him to his wife and kids due to his abusive nature.
16Abe's Fear
In an 1855 letter, Abraham Lincoln feared the "Know-Nothings" would expand discrimination, "I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty -- to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocracy."
17. Abraham Lincoln did not instantly die from being shot in the head. He stayed alive until 7:22 am the next morning.
18. Abraham Lincoln's interest in law started at the bottom of a barrel. Lincoln was running a store when he bought a barrel full of rubbish from a traveler. Upon emptying the barrel Lincoln found a complete set of 'Blackstone's Commentaries' which he spent more time reading than manning the store.
19. In 1863, President Lincoln signed the "Order of Retaliation". For every US soldier killed or enslaved in violation of the laws of war, a Confederate prisoner was to be killed or enslaved.
20. Young Abraham Lincoln considered joining the Donner Party in California. The group is notorious for mass cannibalism after becoming trapped in the Sierra Nevada Mountains for 5 months during the winter. He eventually declined due to a budding political career, a toddler, and a pregnant wife.
21Lincoln's Prank
Abraham Lincoln once pranked his stepmother (Sarah Bush Lincoln) by leaving muddy footprints on the ceiling.
22. Abraham Lincoln gave great prominence to hats as they would protect him from bad weather, help store important documents, and make his height advantage more prominent.
23. Abraham Lincoln used to tell a long joke about a man carving a turkey at a fancy party who puts so much force into the effort that he rips a huge fart in front of everyone.
24. In 1840, Abraham Lincoln and four other legislators jumped out of a window in order to prevent a vote that would have eliminated the Illinois state bank.
25. A secret message was engraved inside Lincoln's pocket watch by a jeweler, and it was not discovered until 2009.
