Daniel Webster, who ran for president and lost three times, declined the Vice Presidency twice, thinking it a worthless office. Both presidents who offered it later died in office, meaning that if he had accepted, he would’ve become president after all.
10
President George W. Bush and Playboy founder Hugh Hefner are cousins!
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The system of democracy was introduced 2,500 years ago in Athens, Greece.
32
Kim Jong-il is only 5' 2'' tall. He wears four-inch lifts in his shoes to compensate for his short stature.
44
No president of the United States was an only child.
10
There was a pre-WWII movement called Technocracy, which held that scientists and engineers should take over the government and economy from politicians and economists. The leader of the movement was known as the Great Engineer.
6
In 2005, the Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, insulted Finnish cuisine and joked that Finns ate “marinated reindeer”. In 2008, Finland won an international pizza contest, beating Italy. The name of the winning pizza was “Pizza Berlusconi” and it was made of smoked reindeer.
4
Jimmy Carter is the first U.S. President to have been born in a hospital.
48