Next 12 Hours
Temperatures are rising way above normal for late February, but a cold front is set to sweep across the Midwest Wednesday afternoon through Thursday. Find out how much of a cool down is expected and how long it will last in our latest forecast video.
departure from average temperature
departure from average precipitation
15 little-known facts about US presidents
George Washington owned a profitable whiskey distillery
Whiskey was one of the first president’s most important business ventures at Mount Vernon. At peak production, in 1799, the distillery produced 11,000 gallons of whiskey. With sales of $7,500 that year, it was perhaps the country’s largest distillery, Smithsonian magazine reports.
Gerald Ford was a model in his youth
One of Gerald Ford's early girlfriends was Phyllis Brown, a fashion model. Brown persuaded Ford to invest in a modeling agency and to do some modeling himself. They appeared in a ski resort spread of Look magazine (1940) and on the cover of Cosmopolitan (1942).
Theodore Roosevelt wore a lock of Lincoln’s hair at his inauguration
Theodore Roosevelt wore a ring containing a lock of President Abraham Lincoln’s hair on March 14, 1905, at his second inauguration. Roosevelt had been a longtime admirer of Lincoln's, and as a child, he had watched Lincoln’s funeral procession pass by his house in New York. John Hay, who had worked for Lincoln in the White House, gave Roosevelt the ring, knowing that Roosevelt would treasure it, Smithsonian magazine tells us.
John Quincy Adams liked to skinny dip in the Potomac River
The sixth president was known for awakening before dawn and taking a dip sans clothes. That must have been quite the sight for anyone out for a morning stroll.
Herbert Hoover made ridiculous demands of his staff
Herbert Hoover, who must have been a real diva, insisted that his staff never lay eyes on him around the White House, and he didn’t want to see them either, Reader’s Digest reports. This led to the staff playing an elaborate game of hide and no seek. According to White House journalist Kenneth Walsh, staffers would “pile into closets” and “hide behind bushes so the president couldn’t see them.”
Warren Harding gambled away the White House china
Warren Harding, the 29th president, loved a game of poker, and apparently, he was a high roller. During one of his bi-weekly poker games, Harding gambled away a set of china that had been in the White House since President Benjamin Harrison’s tenure six terms prior. He bet it all on one ill-advised hand, according to Reader’s Digest.
Abraham Lincoln was a licensed bartender
He co-owned the bar Berry and Lincoln in Illinois.
James Polk’s wife was very strict
The wife of our 11th president, James Polk, was a serious Presbyterian and frowned upon dancing, so it was banned in the White House and at the inaugural ball. She also disapproved of horse racing and the theater.
Benjamin Harrison and his wife were terrified of electricity
When the Edison Company installed electrical wires in the White House in 1891, the 23rd president, Benjamin Harrison, and his wife refused to touch the light switches for fear of being electrocuted.
There was a day without a president, sort of
Ever hear of David Rice Atchison? In 1849, the inauguration of Zachary Taylor (shown) landed on a Sunday, and the religious man refused to be sworn in on a holy day. Some historians have argued that Sen. David Rice Atchison, a Democrat from Missouri, was U.S. president during those intervening hours because he was president pro tempore of the Senate. A plaque on his statue in Missouri even declares him president for one day. Today, most historians and constitutional scholars dispute that claim, the Library of Congress notes.
Jimmy Carter was the first president to have been born in a hospital
Until then, presidents had been born at home, and several entered this world in log cabins.
James Monroe had a violent streak
After deciding not to run against James Monroe in the presidential election, William H. Crawford took a position as secretary of the treasury. During a clash between the two men, the fifth president chased the politician out of the room while brandishing a set of tongs from his fireplace.
