J. Edgar Hoover liked to fire FBI agents whose palms were sweaty when shaking hands.
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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.
11
Former U.S. Congressman John Jenrette once had sex with his wife on the steps of the Capitol Building during a break in a late night Congressional session.
1
John F. Kennedy ordered over 1,000 Cuban cigars for personal use just hours before he made them illegal.
4
Sales of the Guy Fawkes mask - used by protesters all over the world as a symbol of their fight against government corruption and corporate power - all go to Time Warner.
1
In 1955, the citizens of São Paulo were so upset with their government that they elected a rhinoceros named Cacareco (meaning rubbish) to the city council in protest, with over 100,000 votes.
19
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
Former U.S. President Franklin Pierce was arrested during his term as President for running over an old lady with his horse, but the charges were later dropped.
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