A Birthday, an Ape, & a Family of Squatters

Today, we celebrate the birthday of the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. Such an anniversary provides for a great dinnertime conversation with your family. Of course, nothing sparks a conversation better than a cheesy joke about a President. Try this one on your family:

Q: What would you get if you crossed a gorilla with the 16th President?

A: Ape Lincoln

I told you it was cheesy.

Here are some interesting facts about President Lincoln to get the conversation going. Enjoy connecting with your family!

Facts About Our 16th President

Lincoln’s mother died from milk
Lincoln’s mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln, died at the age of 34 from tremetol (milk sickness) when he was only 9.

His parents could not read
Lincoln’s parents were nearly illiterate, including his stepmother — who encouraged young Abraham to learn to read — which he largely accomplished on his own.

Lincoln never experienced dissecting frogs in Biology Lab
Any formal education Lincoln received during his childhood likely added up to 18 months at most. He later taught himself the law and passed the Illinois state bar exam.

The Lincoln’s were “squatters”
In 1817, the Lincoln family left their Kentucky home. For a while, they were actually “squatters” on a small piece of land in Indiana, which Lincoln’s father eventually purchased.

Young Abraham had an on-&-off-again relationship with a girl
Abraham got engaged to Ms. Mary Todd in 1840. A year later they broke up. They would later run into one another at a social function and eventually marry in 1842.

One of Lincoln’s greatest moments as President
Lincoln delivered the Emancipation Proclamation, which began to change the goal of the Civil War from saving the Union to abolishing slavery. The Proclamation specifically states that all individuals being held as slaves in rebel states “henceforward shall be free.” On November 19 he gave the 272-word Gettysburg Address, arguably his most famous speech, to 15,000 gathered at the National Cemetery of Gettysburg — the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the war.