It’s Almost Happy Hour Open Thread

Good afternoon. I know from our site stats that this is the time of day when most of you stop in to waste time at work. Welcome. Please open an excel spreadsheet that you can quickly switch to when your boss walks by. In honor of the President’s Day weekend here is some presidential trivia.

• George Washington was the only president who did not represent a political party.

• James Madison was the first president to wear trousers rather than knee breeches.

• John Quincy Adams regularly swam nude in the Potomac River. The first American professional journalist, Anne Royall, knew of Adams’ 5:00 a.m. swims. After being refused interviews with Adams many times, she went to the river, gathered his clothes and sat on them until she had her interview. Before this, no female had interviewed a president.

• Andrew Jackson was the first American president to experience and survive an assassination attempt. Jackson was at the Capitol when an unemployed house painter fired a pistol at him. The pistol misfired. The would-be assassin drew a second pistol, which also misfired.

•William Henry Harrison delivered the longest inaugural address, and was the first president to die in office, about 32 days after elected. On March 4, he gave a 105 minute speech and did not wear an overcoat or hat. He developed pneumonia and died in the White House exactly one month after giving his speech, on April 4.

• Chester A. Arthur was nicknamed “Elegant Arthur” because of his fashion sense.

Have a great weekend. I will be celebrating in Washington DC because I love America more than you and I don’t want the terrorists to win.