USA Presidential Facts (Thomas Jefferson 1801-1809)

1. Did you know he is credited with introducing french fries to the United States, loved macaroni and cheese and helped to popularize ice cream in the United States ?

2. Did you know he was ambidextrous ? (After breaking his right hand in a fall while serving as a minister in France, he began writing with his left hand.)

3. Did you know he invented or improved a variety of things, including a swivel chair with a writing arm, a macaroni machine, an improved iron plow designed for hillside plowing, and a polygraph for making copies of documents. Other inventions include a revolving bookstand, an automatic door, a folding ladder, and an encryption device called a wheel cipher ?

4. Did you know he was obsessed with fossils and was involved in a great debate about the mammoth that became a political cause ? (Jefferson raised the profile of paleontology as president, and he has a mammoth named after him.)

5. Did you know he was a skilled musician who played the violin and was a big admirer of classical music ? (He owned several violins, including a small portable one for travel.)

6. Did you know he kept pet mockingbirds as companions ?