This video, produced by WatchMojo in honor of the United States' 250th birthday, compiles 250 wild, weird, and little-known facts about American history, geography, pop culture, and politics.
Key Highlights:
Presidential Trivia:
- Zachary Taylor may have died from a stomach ailment caused by eating cherries and iced milk on July 4th (0:39).
- Abraham Lincoln was a champion wrestler in his youth and is in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame (2:43).
- Ulysses S. Grant is the only president to have been arrested while in office, specifically for speeding in a horse-drawn carriage (14:23).
- Herbert Hoover had two alligators in the White House (21:58).
Geography & Landmarks:
- The Statue of Liberty is technically closer to the New Jersey shoreline than New York (2:21).
- Whittier, Alaska is known as a town under one roof because almost all its residents live in a single building (1:49).
- Lake Superior contains enough water to flood both North and South America to a depth of one foot (4:19).
- The Empire State Building has its own dedicated zip code, 10118 (3:32).
Historical & Cultural Oddities:
- During the Revolutionary War, more Americans died on prison ships than in actual battles (1:12).
- The White House has a limestone gargoyle of Darth Vader (5:17).
- The U.S. does not have an official language at the federal level (6:31).
- In the early 1900s, some parents used the postal service to mail their children, though they were treated more like travel companions than packages (19:56).
- The Apollo moon landings resulted in 12 humans walking on the moon, all of whom were American (33:50).
Modern Facts & Statistics:
- The average American throws away about 5 pounds of trash every day (2:06).
- California has the fifth-largest economy in the world as of 2025 (20:53).
- There are more civilian-owned guns in the U.S. than there are people (27:18).