Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln supported the creation of the National Academy of Sciences to help win the Civil War.

Abraham Lincoln once defended a man named Duff Armstrong, who was accused of murder, and he won the case using an almanac to prove a witness was lying about moonlight.

Abraham Lincoln represented the Illinois Central Railroad in a case worth $5,000 – an enormous sum in the 1850s.

Abraham Lincoln once won a case by making the jury laugh so hard that they couldn’t convict his client!

Abraham Lincoln was the first president to ride on a train to Washington, D.C., for his inauguration.

Abraham Lincoln often walked around Washington, D.C. without any guards – something presidents can’t do today.

Lincoln’s son Robert Todd saved the life of Robert E. Lee’s son at a train station years after the Civil War.

Abraham Lincoln appointed his former political rival William H. Seward as Secretary of State.

Abraham Lincoln met with Frederick Douglass three times at the White House, which was more than any other president had done with an African American leader during that era.

Mary Todd Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln’s wife, was related to several Confederate soldiers.

Abraham Lincoln was the first president to have his inauguration photographed in color (though only one colored photo survives).

Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican president of the United States.

Abraham Lincoln was the first president to appear on a U.S. coin while still alive; it was on the 1864 two-cent piece.

Abraham Lincoln was the first U.S. president to be buried in a concrete vault to protect his body.

Abraham Lincoln was the first president of the United States to hold the rank of Captain, which he achieved during the Black Hawk War.

Abraham Lincoln was the first president to be photographed with his family; the image is known as “The First Family.”

Abraham Lincoln worked as a store clerk, surveyor, and postmaster before becoming a lawyer.

Just days before he was assassinated, Abraham Lincoln had a strange dream where someone died in the White House and a soldier told him, “The President was killed by an assassin!”