Happy 200th Birthday!

Bear with me. I am a lover of history.

Abraham Lincoln is still considered among the greatest American Presidents.

It's worth reflecting on his life this day.
Today marks the 200th birthday for Abraham Lincoln. The 16th president of the United States. Lincoln was born in 1809. He was assassinated on April 15 1865.

This is a picture taken with his son Tad.

I like it because it is different.

This is the earliest known photo of Lincoln.

He was either 36 or 37 at the time.

I recently read a lot of stuff about Lincoln.

I thought I would share some of the fun facts.

*Abraham Lincoln was the first president to be born outside of the original thirteen colonies. He was born in Hardin county Kentucky.

*When Abraham Lincoln was a little boy he almost drowned in Knob’s Creek but was saved by a neighbor boy

*Lincoln was afraid of dentists because a dentist broke off part of Lincoln’s jawbone by pulling a tooth.
*Lincoln’s height came from his legs. Sitting, he was no taller than an average man. Lincoln was 6 feet 4 inches tall, at a time when most men in the United States were about 5 feet 6 inches.
*Lincoln wore a size 14 shoe. His footwear had to be custom made.
*Lincoln taught himself law and was admitted to the bar in 1837.
*Lincoln made good money as a lawyer before becoming president. By 1858, he was earning about $5,000 a year.
*Lincoln had a strong interest in technology and inventions. He is the only U.S. president to hold a patent. He came up with an idea that would help boats to float over sandbars when traveling on rivers.
*Lincoln was the first republican president.
*He was the first president to be photographed at his inauguration. John Wilkes Booth (his assassin) can be seen standing close to Lincoln in the picture.
*Lincoln was the first president to have a beard, is the only one to have had a beard and no mustache.
*Abraham Lincoln grew his beard out of the suggestion of an 11 year old girl.

This photograph was taken on the Battlefield of Antietam

a few weeks after the completion of the battle.

On the left is the President's bodyguard Allan Pinkerton.

On the right is General McClellan.

*Lincoln's annual Presidential salary was $25,000.
*Lincoln's brother, half-brothers, and brothers-in-law fought in the Confederate Army.
*John Wilkes Booth's brother once saved Abraham Lincoln's son's life.
*Lincoln married Mary Todd and they had four children.
*Abe Lincoln's mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln, died when the family dairy cow ate poisonous mushrooms and she drank the milk.

This is the Last Picture Taken of Abraham Lincoln.
This is a dramatic portrait of Abraham Lincoln. It was taken on April 10, 1865 . . . four days before his Assassination. It is interesting to note the look on Lincoln's face. While four years of Civil War have had a dramatic effect on the facial features of the president, there is a sense of calm and peace on his face in this image . . . as if he knows that he has run a good race, and completed his task.

*Lincoln once had a dream right before the fall of Richmond that he would die. He dreamt that he was in the White House, he heard crying and when he found the room it was coming from he asked who had died. The man said the President. He looked in the coffin and saw his own face. A week later Lincoln died.
*President Lincoln was shot at the Ford theater. He was taken across the way to the Peterson house where he died. He was given brandy three times after he was shot; just before he died. The last thing to pass thru his lips was alcohol. He spent his entire life avoiding it because it made him feel-quote, flabby and undone.
*Another fact many people don't know is that he was also colorblind.
*Lincoln's favorite sport was wrestling.
*Lincoln loved the works of Edgar Allan Poe.
*He was 56 when he died.

Overview of Lincoln's life.
Take the Abraham Lincoln Quiz!
C 'mon, give it a try! It's fun :)


I like this because it has many great pictures and nice music.

There are MANY great quotes by Lincoln. Here are a few of my favorites:

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."

"...I know that the Lord is always on the side of the right. But it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I and this nation should be on the Lord's side."

"I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go."

In my opinion, Abe Lincoln was predestined to be president. I think he was chosen to lead our country out of slavery. I know that the war laid heavy on his heart. He had many hardships in life; The loss of his sweetheart Ann Rutledge, the loss of his son Edward and then another son William, a wife who was difficult and was actually deemed insane, bouts with depression, and etc. He was sent to get a job done, and it did get done! The 13 amendment (slavery abolishment) was passed in December 1865. Eight months after his death.