Almost 35 million residents of America are estimated to share DNA with at least one of the original riders of the Mayflower.
And we thought turkey birds were the only major legacy they left behind.
The Declaration of Independence Was Written on Something You’d Never Expect
Originally, the Declaration of Independence was written on hemp paper. The copy that persists today was written on parchment—a velum, which is a treated animal skin. However, we all know it takes drafts and drafts before you can get to a final copy, and most of those drafts of the Declaration were written on hemp!
Back in the 1800s, the majority of paper was actually made of the durable material we know as hemp.
Washington’s Birthday Was the Last Time the Liberty Bell Rang
On February 19th, 1846 the Liberty Bell Rang for the last time.
This was 47 years after George Washington died, but it was his birthday nonetheless and we’re sure he would’ve been proud to hear the Liberty Bell ring.
John Quincy Adams Used to Swim Every Morning…
...in the nude! That’s right, Adams used to wake up by taking a skinny dip in the morning. Some people wake up with a cup of coffee, but others have their own routines.
Whatever gets you out of bed, we suppose!
There Used to be a Fourteenth Colony
The colony was called Franklin after Ben. In 1784, a few renegades in North Carolina voted to secede from the state and named their newly formed state “Franklin”.
However, Congress overruled the secession and refused to allow the state to join the Union. Franklin continued on its own for as long as its inhabitants could, but eventually, the colony became a part of Tennessee.