10 historical facts about George Washington

1. George Washington was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, on February 22, 1732.
2. As Washington's birthday is on February 22, the U.S. federal holiday known as Washington's Birthday (or more recently President's Day) never falls on his actual birthday because that holiday occurs on the third Monday in February, and thus could never fall later than the 21st day of the month.
3. Washington's first ancestor to arrive in the American colonies was his great-grandfather, John Washington, who in 1656 arrived in the Colony of Virginia while a second mate aboard a ship.
4. There is no actual evidence that George Washington chopped down a cherry tree as a child. The first mention of such a story was from Parson Mason Locke Weems who supposedly heard it from people who had known Washington as a child.
5. Washington died on December 14, 1799, at home and was laid to rest December 18, 1799.
6. After Washington's death, Napoleon gave orders in France for 10 days of official mourning.
7. The first president of the United States never had children of his own, though he did raise two of his wife's children from an earlier marriage that had ended in her being widowed.
8. Between 1758, the end of the French and Indian War, and 1775, the start of the American Revolution, George Washington did not serve in any military.
9. Washington's army of more than 10,000 lost between 2,000 and 3,000 men during the winter of 1777 and 1778 while encamped at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Nearly all the deaths were because of disease and the harsh weather conditions.
10. He was elected president of the United States in 1789 and again in 1792. Washington remains to this day the only president in American history to have received 100 percent of all votes in the Electoral College.