1

The numbers behind it

Image: Melo Liu

One could say the White House is a home, but a more accurate description would be "small city." With 132 rooms, 32 bathrooms, and six levels, it accommodates everyone from the First Family to visiting dignitaries.

As if that wasn’t enough in terms of numbers, add 412 doors, 147 windows, 28 fireplaces, seven staircases, and three elevators, and you’ve got a place that’s as grand as it is functional. The only number left to wonder about is how many people it takes to clean it! With so much going on, it’s safe to say the White House is always buzzing.

2

From "President’s House" to "The White House"

Image: Saul Rodriguez

Did you know the White House wasn’t always called that? Over the years, it’s been referred to as the "President’s Palace," the "President’s House," and the "Executive Mansion."

But it wasn’t until 1901 that President Theodore Roosevelt made "The White House" the official name. The change reflected a more democratic image, distancing the building from European-style palaces.

3

6,000 visitors a day: A popular destination

Image: Saul Rodriguez

You have probably toured the White House at least once, haven’t you? Well, on any given day, the White House welcomes around 6,000 visitors.

From local and foreign tourists on a guided tour, diplomats, to school groups, the building sees a steady stream of guests. That’s a lot of handshakes, selfies, and security checks! More than power and politics, the charm of the White House lies in the national history it holds.

4

Presidential firsts: Planes, photos, and more

Image: Jainam Sheth

Every president brings something new to the White House, but some have achieved truly historic "firsts."

For example, John Tyler was the first to have his photograph taken. Theodore Roosevelt rode in the first presidential car and became the first president to travel abroad, to Panama. Franklin Roosevelt added air travel to the mix as the first president to fly.

You may be wondering who the first president to live there was, but we’ll cover that fact later in this article!

5

A kitchen built for a crowd

Image: Odiseo Castrejon

We may not know about the cleaning crew, but we do have some facts about the chefs!

There are five full-time chefs in the White House, so the kitchen is ready for any occasion. It can serve dinner to 140 guests or hors d’oeuvres to more than 1,000 people at a time. From state dinners to casual family meals, the kitchen staff handles it all with finesse. Five stars for them, please!

6

Painting the town (or the House) White

Image: Steve Johnson

Keeping the White House pristine is no small task: Can you guess how much paint it takes to cover it? Here’s the answer: It takes a whopping 570 gallons of paint to cover its iconic exterior. This monumental paint job ensures the building remains the picture of elegance and charm. Over the years, this white coat has become a symbol of the presidency itself. Who knew painting could carry so much historical weight? Fun fact: ours is not the only presidential home with a trademark color!

7

Fun and games at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Image: Jay Wennington

When you think of the Executive Mansion, you probably picture people in suits going from one point to another, solving national and international matters, right? Well, that may be true, but the White House isn’t all business; there are some recreational rooms, too.

Residents (which range from the presidential family to diplomats to staff) enjoy a tennis court, jogging track, swimming pool, movie theater, billiard room, and even a bowling lane. Talk about a house with some serious amenities, huh?

8

George Washington never slept here

Image: Kenny Eliason

While George Washington oversaw the creation of the White House, he never got to live in it. The mansion wasn’t completed until 1800, a year after Washington’s death.

So, to answer the question from the "presidential firsts" section, John Adams became the first president to move in, and it’s been the home of every president since. Washington’s influence is still felt, but don’t expect to see his ghost wandering the halls.

9

The White House has survived two fires

Image: Cullan Smith

Well, the title pretty much covers it, right? The White House has faced fire twice in its history.

In 1814, British forces burned it during the War of 1812, though some exterior walls and the famous Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington were saved. Then, on Christmas Eve in 1929, a chimney flue sparked a blaze that gutted parts of the West Wing. President Herbert Hoover even directed firefighting efforts during the chaos. Now, this is proof of its true Americanness: It only came back stronger and taller!

10

Teddy Roosevelt built the West Wing

Image: Srikanta H. U

Teddy Roosevelt is the man behind the West Wing. In 1902, he expanded the White House by adding this now-famous section to house presidential offices.

The project replaced some old conservatories and introduced the colonnaded gallery that connects it to the main residence. Later presidents, like Taft and Franklin Roosevelt, expanded the West Wing further, but it all started with Teddy’s vision. Today, the West Wing is the spinal cord of the presidency as it holds the Oval Office.

1

The original plan included full-body figures

Image: Thomas Shockey

Mount Rushmore was supposed to be even more colossal than it already is. Sculptor Gutzon Borglum envisioned the four presidents carved from the waist up .

He even made plaster models showing Abraham Lincoln's coat folds and Teddy Roosevelt’s hand clutching his lapel. But as costs went up, Congress said: "heads only, please."

2

Charles Rushmore was just a curious New Yorker

Image: Maarten van den Heuvel

Back in 1925, when the mount was about to be carved into a monument, Charles Rushmore wrote a letter explaining why the peak bore his name. He recalled that in the 1880s he was a young New Yorker working in the area, and fell fond of that particular granite peak .

When he asked the locals about it, they informed him that it had no name, but that if he wished so, they would just start calling it Rushmore Peak, or Mount Rushmore, or the likes. Years later, that very name had been inscribed in the public domain to designate the peak.

3

Yes, there’s a hidden room behind Lincoln’s head

Image: Laura Nyhuis

Behind Abraham Lincoln’s hairline lies a hidden chamber, part of Borglum’s lofty idea for a "Hall of Records." This room was meant to house foundational American documents like the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence.

Instead of that, in 1998, a titanium box was placed inside, filled with copies of important documents and biographies, as a time capsule to preserve the treasure of knowledge for future generations.

4

Thomas Jefferson was moved

Image: Dave Baraloto

Jefferson was originally supposed to go to Washington’s right, but after 18 months of chiseling , the granite betrayed them. Cracks and flaws made the site unworkable.

Borglum made the painful decision to blast Jefferson’s half-formed face clean off and start anew on Washington’s left.

5

The mountain was almost a monument to western heroes

Image: Timberly Hawkins

Before presidents took over, the mountain was pitched as a giant tribute to the Wild West . South Dakota historian Doane Robinson wanted to see frontier legends like Lewis & Clark carved into the Black Hills.

But when Borglum came aboard, he had a grander (and more politically bankable) idea: four presidents to symbolize national unity and expansion.

6

A woman’s face was almost added

Image: Tom Fournier

In the 1930s, there was serious talk of honoring Susan B. Anthony alongside the Founding Fathers, as a nod to the women’s suffrage movement.

Borglum wasn’t opposed to the idea, but Congress quickly nixed it, stating that only U.S. presidents could be included.

7

The workers were mostly local miners and loggers

Image: Pixabay

They were neither sculptors nor artists. Most of the workforce came from nearby Keystone, South Dakota: miners, loggers, and hard-up laborers looking for work during the Great Depression.

Borglum trained them himself. There were no safety harnesses, and yet, remarkably, no one died on the job.

8

Dynamite did 90% of the work

Image: Alexander Paramonov

To carve the faces of Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln, workers used carefully timed dynamite blasts to remove over 450,000 tons of rock. They got so precise, they could blast within inches of where the final surface would be.

The last details, like wrinkles, pupils, or Roosevelt’s glasses, were done with jackhammers and chisels.

9

The noses are disproportionate

Image: Dudubangbang Travel

Standing in front of the mountain, the faces seem alright. But that’s a trick of perspective. Each presidential nose is a whopping 20 feet long .

If the sculptures had included full bodies as planned, each figure would have stood 465 feet tall. That’s taller than the Statue of Liberty and most downtown skyscrapers.

10

Teddy Roosevelt was the most controversial pick

Image: Dudubangbang Travel

Washington, of course. Jefferson, made sense. Lincoln, sure. And Teddy? Some critics raised their eyebrows at Borglum’s fourth choice. Roosevelt had only recently passed away in 1919, and many questioned whether he'd stood the test of time.

But Borglum defended the decision Roosevelt’s role in breaking up monopolies, conserving national parks, and engineering the Panama Canal. Plus, Borglum had met him personally and was a fan.

11

It was supposed to have inscriptions

Image: Dan Pick

Borglum had grander plans than just four giant heads. He wanted to carve a massive inscription next to them, a timeline of America’s most important milestones , chiseled straight into the mountain. In time, the idea was scrapped for practical and aesthetic reasons.

12

The visionary died before completion

Image: Lisa Reichenstein

Gutzon Borglum, the visionary behind it all, didn’t live to see his masterpiece finished. He died in March 1941, just as the construction was reaching its end. His son, Lincoln Borglum (yes, named after that Lincoln), took over the project.

Still, with WWII drawing resources elsewhere, funding was slashed, and Lincoln had to wrap things up quickly . Some features, like Lincoln’s ear, were never fully detailed.

1

Home economics class

Home economics as a school subject peaked in the mid-20th century, teaching sewing, cooking, and budgeting —often aimed at girls.

By the 2000s, however, many states had folded it into a broader "family and consumer sciences" category, as shifting gender roles and changing cultural habits made the old curriculum feel increasingly outdated.

2

Woodshop in every school

Lightly supervised children with access to power tools? Today, it seems hard to believe, but woodshop was a standard industrial arts course throughout the 1950s–1980s.

Declines began in the 1990s due to higher liability insurance costs, budget cuts, and a growing emphasis on college-prep academics over practical skills. Some schools still maintain limited woodworking programs, often using them as hands-on, integrated learning tools.

3

The dodgeball era

Dodgeball dominated physical education classes well into the 1990s, often using hard rubber balls that were notorious for causing stingers, bruises, and occasional injuries . The game was popular because it required little equipment, could fill an entire class period, and kept large groups of students active.

By the 2000s, however, concerns about safety and bullying led many districts to restrict or replace dodgeball with more structured team sports. Some schools still play modified versions, usually with soft foam balls and strict rules.

4

Chalkboard dusting

For over a century, green and black chalkboards were the centerpiece of American classrooms, with students regularly assigned to "clap out" erasers outside to clear the built-up dust. Chalk was cheap, durable, and easy for teachers to use in large rooms.

By the 1990s, districts began replacing chalkboards with whiteboards due to dust concerns linked to asthma and indoor air quality. The shift accelerated as overhead projectors, digital displays, and interactive whiteboards provided cleaner surfaces and reduced inhalation hazards.

5

Daily milk breaks

Mid-morning milk breaks became common in American elementary schools after the USDA expanded dairy subsidies through programs like the Special Milk Program in 1954. For decades, students lined up for small cartons—usually whole milk—intended to boost childhood nutrition and support U.S. dairy producers during periods of surplus.

By the 1990s and 2000s, milk breaks declined as updated nutrition guidelines shifted schools toward broader meal programs rather than standalone milk service.

6

In-school smoking lounges

The idea of teens openly smoking on school grounds would be almost unimaginable under today’s health and liability standards. But through the 1960s and into the early 1980s, many American high schools—especially in the Midwest and Northeast—maintained designated smoking areas for students.

The practice disappeared quickly as federal and state regulations tightened, beginning with widespread adoption of indoor smoking bans in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The 1994 Surgeon General’s report and anti-tobacco campaigns further pushed districts to eliminate student smoking sections altogether.

7

Daily cursive drills

For most of the 20th century, daily cursive drills were a nonnegotiable part of American schooling , often reinforced by specific handwriting manuals. Teachers devoted significant class time to perfecting loops, slants, and connected strokes, because cursive was considered essential for legibility, speed, and personal discipline.

The decline accelerated after the rollout of the Common Core State Standards in 2010, which omitted cursive entirely in favor of keyboarding and digital literacy benchmarks. With shrinking instructional time, cursive was often one of the first skills removed from early-grade schedules.

8

Class pet enclosures

From the 1960s through the 1990s, class pets—hamsters, guinea pigs, turtles, goldfish, and even the occasional lizard—were staples of American elementary classrooms. Teachers used them to teach responsibility, empathy, and basic biology , and many classes created rotating "pet helper" charts for feeding and tank cleaning.

Today, the idea of a live animal in a crowded classroom, handled daily by students, feels out of step with modern safety, allergy, and sanitation standards. Maintenance costs, humane-treatment rules, and the challenge of caring for animals during breaks led schools to retire these longtime classroom mascots.

9

Student hall monitors

For much of the mid-20th century, student hall monitors were a fixture in American schools. Selected students—often upper-grade or high-performing—wore badges or sashes and were tasked with checking hall passes, reporting loitering, and keeping noise down between classes.

By the 1990s, the role faded as schools adopted professional security staff, stricter attendance protocols, and legal liability rules that made peer enforcement impractical. As districts invested in cameras, campus supervisors, and centralized discipline systems, the traditional hall monitor quietly disappeared from most American schools.

10

Morning physical calisthenics

From the 1950s through the early 1970s, influenced by Cold War fitness campaigns, many American schools began the day with school-wide calisthenics —jumping jacks, toe touches, and arm circles—led over the PA system.

The practice faded as schedules tightened and PE moved into dedicated class periods, with research favoring structured fitness over brief daily routines. Today, the idea of entire schools performing synchronized drills feels almost militaristic.