George Washington’s extraordinary youthful activities with his hatchet caused the extinction of the cherry tree in the eastern United States. All cherry trees in East Coast states descend from cultivars subsequently imported from Japan.

George Washington could not tell a lie, but he was sometimes remarkably dexterous with the truth.

Even as a general, George Washington could never see a river without throwing a dollar across it. A famous painting depicts General Washington crossing the Delaware in dreadfully icy conditions to retrieve a Spanish milled dollar he had lobbed towards New Jersey.

Contrary to legend, George Washington’s false teeth were not made of wood. Two of his sets of dentures were made of Bakelite, and one given to him by the Marquis de La Fayette was pure sapphire.

For most of his adult life, George Washington made a habit of sleeping in two different houses every night. Servants would wake him at one in the morning, and the transfer would normally be completed by two. Except on his infrequent visits home, Washington never slept in the same bed twice. He kept a large supply of small brass plaques to leave with his hosts in commemoration of the signal honor he had conferred upon them.