Though they may be famed for shaping America as we know it, the Founding Fathers were, at times, some seriously weird dudes. Case in point? George Washington's love of swearing, John Hancock's signature smuggling and Benjamin Franklin's penchant for cougars.
From John Adams to John Jay, here are 11 unconstitutionally weird facts about our Founding Fathers.
1
Cougar Hunter
“Benjamin Franklin wrote a letter advising a friend to take an older mistress, since ‘covering all above with a Basket, and regarding only what is below the Girdle, it is impossible of two Women to know an old from a young one.’”
2
Don’t Look Up!
“John Quincy Adams partially blinded himself looking directly at an eclipse in 1791.”
3
Negative Rizz Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson once suffered a “violent headache for two days after behaving awkwardly in front of a girl he fancied.”
4
Liberty and Mac and Cheese For All
“Macaroni and Cheese became popular because of President Thomas Jefferson. While visiting France, he became enamored at fashionable pasta dishes. He brought back noodle recipes and a pasta machine and he served macaroni and cheese at an 1802 state dinner.”
5
Bones and All
“Over 1200 bones equaling to 15 bodies, 6 of them children, were found in Benjamin Franklin’s old home in London. Many Historians concluded that it was from an Anatomy School run by Franklin’s protege William Hewson.”
6
John Jay? No Way!
“When John Jay formed a treaty with Britain in 1795 to avoid a war, it was so unpopular among Americans that it inspired the slogan, “D—n John Jay! D—n everyone who won't d—n John Jay!! D—n everyone that won't put lights in his windows and sit up all night d—ning John Jay!!!"
7
John Hancock’s Signature Smuggling
“The Boston Tea Party event was highly influenced not by colonists who were mad about over-taxed tea (the Tea Act actually made legal tea cheaper), rather it was highly influenced by smugglers of Dutch tea who couldn't sell it cheap enough to compete. Chief among the smugglers: John Hancock.”
8
Duck Measuring Contest
“During the American Revolution, Thomas Jefferson had James Madison and others measure animals to prove that America wasn’t naturally inferior to Europe.”
9
George Washington: Drama Queen
"George Washington prevented a military coup over unpaid back wages by putting on a pair of glasses to read a letter from Congress, explaining he was ‘almost blind in the service of my country.’ Moved to tears, his officers compromised.”
10
Satan Rising
During his White House tenure, John Adams had a dog named Satan.
11
What the Washington?
George Washington was famed for his foul mouth, using so much profanity during the Battle of Monmouth that one general said he swore "until leaves shook on the trees … never have I enjoyed such swearing before or since."
