Monday, February 12, 2018

Greetings Infomaniacs,

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president, has a birthday today. So how much do you really know about the Great Emancipator?

Enjoy!

Questions? Comments? email the editor

P.S. Did you miss an issue? You can read every issue from the Gophercentral library of newsletters on our exhaustive archives page. Thousands of issues, all of your favorite publications in chronological order. You can read AND comment. Click http://gopherarchives.gophercentral.com




***********************************************************

WHO SAID IT?
QUOTE: "Of all the men I ever met, he seemed to possess more of the elements of greatness, combined with goodness, than any other."

HINT: (1820-1891) was an American soldier, businessman, educator, and author. He served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

***********************************************************

RANDOM TIDBITS
Abraham Lincoln was the only president to have a patent: he invented a device to free steamboats that ran aground.

***
He practiced law without a degree. Lincoln had about 18 months of formal schooling.

***
He really was a wrestler. Lincoln was documented as taking part in wrestling bouts. Defeated only once in approximately 300 matches. According to Carl Sandburg's biography of Lincoln, Honest Abe once challenged an entire crowd of onlookers after dispatching an opponent: "I'm the big buck of this lick. If any of you want to try it, come on and whet your horns." There were no takers.

***
Illinois may be known as the Land of Lincoln, but it was in Indiana that the 16th president spent his formative years. Lincoln was born in a Kentucky log cabin in 1809, and in 1816 his father, Thomas, moved the family across the Ohio River to a 160-acre plot in southern Indiana. Lincoln did not migrate to Illinois until 1830.

***
On April 14, 1865, Lincoln signed legislation creating the U.S. Secret Service. That evening, he was shot at Ford's Theatre. Even if the Secret Service had been established earlier, it wouldn't have saved Lincoln: The original mission of the law enforcement agency was to combat widespread currency counterfeiting. It was not until 1901, after the killing of two other presidents, that the Secret Service was formally assigned to protect the commander-in-chief.

***
The Homestead Act, signed into law by Abraham Lincoln in 1862, made millions of acres of government land (in tracts of 160 acres) available to any male over 21 who could pay the processing fee of $18. To make ownership of the tract permanent, an owner was required to live on the land and build it up for a period of no less than 5 years. The Homestead Act helped to distribute wealth evenly among a working populace and created an economic, agricultural, and social stability that fueled American growth and prosperity for decades.




***********************************************************

*** Weekly Mind-Scrambler ***
I'm so fast you can't see me, Though everyone sees straight through me, I don't stop until the day you die.

What am I?

Submit your answer by clicking: TheDailyTease

Answer will be posted in Friday's Trivia Today. Good Luck! If your name appears in Friday's newsletter, EMAIL MICHELE your complete name and address to be shipped your prize.

Be sure to put "Winner" in the subject line.

***********************************************************

WHO SAID IT?
QUOTE: "Of all the men I ever met, he seemed to possess more of the elements of greatness, combined with goodness, than any other."

ANSWER: General William T. Sherman