1

Abraham Lincoln

Long before he preserved the Union or delivered the Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln was renowned across Illinois as a fearsome wrestler. Standing at 6’4", Lincoln had immense leverage and strength cultivated from years of clearing timber.

In the early 1830s, he competed in roughly 300 matches and was defeated only once. His most famous fight happened in New Salem, Illinois, against Jack Armstrong, the leader of a local gang known as the Clary’s Grove Boys. Lincoln soundly defeated Armstrong, earning the lifelong respect of the community. He was even inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as an "Outstanding American".

2

Herbert Hoover

Herbert Hoover’s pre-political life was defined by his career as a world-traveling mining engineer. In the late 1890s, Hoover took a job with the Chinese Engineering and Mining Company, moving to China.

To effectively manage the local operations and navigate the complex social landscape, Hoover and his wife, Lou Henry, learned to speak Mandarin. They became so fluent that decades later, the President and First Lady would speak Mandarin to one another whenever they wanted to have a private conversation in front of White House staff or guests.

3

Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson’s early life was marked by extreme hardship. By the age of fourteen, he had lost his entire immediate family to the Revolutionary War, making him an orphan.

In the early 1780s, a teenage Jackson moved to Salisbury, North Carolina, to survive. There, he apprenticed under a local master craftsman to learn the trade of saddle making. The intense manual labor provided him with a practical trade before he eventually taught himself the law and began his ascent into Tennessee politics.

4

Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter’s identity is intertwined with his background as a peanut farmer, but this wasn’t just a casual hobby. After serving as a naval officer, Carter returned to Plains, Georgia, following the death of his father in 1953, to take over the family’s struggling farm.

Faced with severe debts and a local drought, Carter worked the land alongside his laborers. He used his background in engineering to modernize the operation, transitioning it from a basic farm into a successful, tech-forward agribusiness.

5

Ronald Reagan

Before he was an actor, governor, or president, a teenage Ronald Reagan spent his summers working as a lifeguard at Lowell Park on the Rock River in Dixon, Illinois. Over the course of seven summers, beginning in 1927, Reagan is credited with saving a staggering 77 lives from the river’s treacherous undercurrents. Reagan took immense pride in this job, famously carving a notch into a nearby log for every single swimmer he successfully pulled from the water.

6

Lyndon B. Johnson

Lyndon B. Johnson was a man driven by ambition, but his youth was spent working a variety of low-wage odd jobs across the American West. After dropping out of school and running away to California in 1924, a young LBJ found himself completely broke.

Among other trades, he took a job as an elevator operator at a hotel in San Bernardino. Standing inside a cramped wooden box for hours on end, opening doors for affluent travelers, gave the future architect of the "Great Society" an up-close look at class distinctions and human behavior.

7

Warren G. Harding

Warren G. Harding began his professional career with a profound love for ink and typesetting. In 1884, at just 19 years old, Harding used his meager resources to purchase a failing, defunct local newspaper called the Marion Daily Star in Ohio.

Harding acted as a reporter, ad salesman, and press operator. Under his leadership, the paper grew into a highly profitable business, shaping his communicative style and providing him with the perfect media megaphone to launch his political career.

8

Calvin Coolidge

Calvin Coolidge was famous for his quiet and incredibly reserved demeanor, earning him the nickname "Silent Cal". It is entirely fitting, then, that one of his earliest jobs during his youth was crafting doll carriages at a toy manufacturing company in Ludlow, Vermont, in the late 1880s. Coolidge treated the position with the same meticulous, serious dedication that he would later bring to the governance of the nation.

9

Barack Obama

Long before he was dealing with global diplomacy or economic crises, a teenage Barack Obama landed his very first job at a Baskin-Robbins franchise in Honolulu, Hawaii.

In the summer of 1978, Obama spent his days scooping ice cream, a task he later recalled as being far harder on the wrists than people realize. He noted that the job taught him responsibility, hard work, and balancing a job with friends, family, and school. It also had a permanent effect on his palate: he famously admitted that he completely lost his appetite for ice cream for years.

10

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was the ultimate Renaissance man, but few realize he holds a legitimate title as one of America's first true archaeologists. In 1784, intrigued by the numerous Native American burial mounds scattered across Virginia, Jefferson decided to investigate one located near his Monticello estate.

Instead of simply digging for artifacts, Jefferson applied a rigorous, scientific method that was decades ahead of its time. He dug trenches to observe the various layers of earth and carefully documented the positioning of human remains. His systematic approach earned him recognition from modern historians as a pioneer of American archaeological science.

1

Ford Model T

We’ll begin this article with the car that started it all. The Model T is considered by historians to be the very first mass-produced and affordable car, thanks to Henry Ford’s incredible innovation with the introduction of the assembly line. In the 1999 "Car of the Century" competition, the Ford Model T was named the most influential car of the 20th century, and with good reason: the creation of this groundbreaking vehicle is considered one of the most revolutionary events in the past few centuries.

2

Ford Mustang

The Mustang has been Ford’s most famous vehicle since 1964, with new series and models coming up to this day. Just like its name suggests, the Mustang is what is known as a "pony car": Affordable, compact, and, above all, highly styled. However, at the time of its launch, the Mustang was also synonymous with speed, debuting as a safety car in the 1964 Indianapolis 500. Not only that, it won the 1964 Tour de France international rally.

3

Chevrolet Corvette

Few sports cars are as iconic and instantly recognizable as the Corvette. First introduced in 1953, the Corvette is still manufactured to this day, with its latest generation introduced in 2020. Experts recognize this car for its stylish design, excellent performance, and competitive pricing. These qualities have turned the Corvette into an undisputed American icon.

4

Cadillac ElDorado

In the 1950s, when it came time for Cadillac to name their new luxury car model, they naturally chose to name it after the mythical city of "El Dorado." After all, what can be more luxurious than a legendary Colombian city made entirely of gold? The Eldorado was created to celebrate Cadillac’s "golden" anniversary, but it quickly became this manufacturer’s most popular vehicle, produced for over 50 years until 2002.

5

Jeep Wrangler

During WWII, the U.S. Army introduced the Willys MB, an off-road vehicle also known as the "Jeep." By the end of the war, a civilian-friendly model of the Jeep, known as the "CJ-1", was introduced to the American public with great success. Cut to 40 years later, in 1986, when Jeep introduced its now-iconic Wrangler. Its maneuverability and power were (and still are) only comparable to its comfort and style.

6

Pontiac Firebird

Whenever you see Pontiac’s black and golden phoenix in the hood of a car, you know you are in the presence of one of the most iconic American cars in history. Produced from 1967 to 2002, the Pontiac Firebird was first created as a "pony car" to compete with the Ford Mustang. With 4 different models, the Firebird is definitively synonymous with speed, performance, and, above all, style.

7

Oldsmobile 88

The Oldsmobile 88 is this manufacturer’s best-selling and most famous vehicle, and with good reason. Since its introduction in the 1950s, this full-size car was extremely popular for its lightweight and powerful V8 engine. Not only that, many experts believe that its large and high-performance engine made the 88 the very first muscle car in history.

8

Dodge Charger

In the late 70s, a now-legendary show called "The Dukes of Hazzard" introduced the world to "them Duke Boys," two cousins who engaged in high-adrenaline adventures through rural Georgia in their trusted Dodge Charger named "General Lee." The popularity of this show made the Charger familiar to America since the high-speed chases showcased by the show allowed the public to see firsthand all the perks the Charger had to offer.

9

Volkswagen Microbus

So far, we’ve been focusing on cars known for their speed or power, but what about comfort? This isn’t to say that the vehicles we’ve mentioned before are not comfortable, but this entry is known as the go-to car for those seeking to explore the gorgeous landscapes of our country. Since Volkswagen is a German manufacturer, the Microbus is not technically an American car, but let’s be honest: This car has been synonymous with American road trips since its inception.

10

Lincoln Continental

In the early 40s, Edsel Ford, son of legendary industrialist Henry Ford, commissioned the construction of a comfortable luxury personal vehicle. The result was the Lincoln Continental , which quickly evolved from that sole prototype into one of the most iconic American cars in history. The name comes from the car’s European "continental" styling elements, like a modern design and a rear-mounted spare tire.

1

The Second of July?

The first 4th of July celebration took place spontaneously in Philadelphia in 1777 and included elements that still persist today, such as bonfires, parades, and fireworks. But not everyone was on board. Founding Father John Adams famously refused all invitations to celebrate on account of disagreeing with the date.

For him, celebrations needed to be held on July 2nd, the day independence was voted on, rather than the 4th, when independence was declared , but July 4th became widely accepted because it was the date that appeared on the distributed copies of the document. In a both poetic and ironic turn of events, Adams — along with Jefferson, who penned the document — died on July 4th, 1826, on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

2

Who came up with the turkey pardon?

While many correctly assume that the official Presidential turkey pardon on Thanksgiving is an old event, it was not an official tradition until 1989, under the George H.W. Bush administration . But the roots of the tradition are nearly as old as the holiday itself.

In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln’s young son, Tad, asked to adopt the turkey intended for the Christmas dinner and named it Jack. This didn't become a regular tradition, but it set the precedent for President Kennedy to pardon the turkey gifted to the First Family in 1963 , a custom adopted by many of the following presidents, with Reagan being the first to call it the "presidential pardoning".

3

The anti-pumpkin movement

As a crop native to America, pumpkin is mentioned across American history, including the first Thanksgiving. But before pumpkin pie was a symbol of the holiday, it was a New England dessert that divided the nation.

Thanksgiving was instituted as an official holiday by Abraham Lincoln in 1863, with turkey and pumpkin pie quickly becoming the main dishes on the menu. After the Civil War, the Southern states were reluctant to adopt the holiday and its associated pie, claiming it was a "Yankee tradition" and a celebration of Northern culture. As a way of rejecting what they saw as a cultural imposition, many Southern cooks replaced the pumpkin pie with sweet potato pie, which remains much more common in the South.

4

The 22 years without Christmas

The minute Thanksgiving ends and "All I Want for Christmas Is You" returns to the top of the charts, much of the country gets into the holiday spirit. Surprisingly, just a few centuries ago, and 100 years before the United States was officially formed, Christmas was banned altogether .

During Cromwell’s interregnum (1649-1660), the Puritan-led English Parliament canceled the Christmas festivities of 1644, claiming it was a Catholic festivity of pagan origin. The sentiment echoed across the Atlantic, where the Massachusetts Bay Colony, of Puritan origins, banned Christmas in 1659 and fined those who celebrated or took the day off. The ban remained in place even after the restoration of the Monarchy, and was only lifted in 1681. Ulysses S. Grant declared it a federal holiday in 1870.

5

Mandatory anonymity

Anyone who ever celebrated Mardi Gras in New Orleans knows that masks are an integral part of the event, with those in the parade and many spectators concealing their identity. What many don’t know is that, per Louisiana law, wearing a mask in public is illegal , a statute passed in the 1920s to counteract the Ku Klux Klan’s influence and its intimidation tactics.

So, what happens during Mardi Gras? In the traditional Carnivals, masks were a way for people of all classes to mingle without endangering their reputation. While it is not a requirement for spectators today, anti-mask laws are suspended during Mardi Gras . However, if you are taking part in the parade, masks are not only allowed but mandatory.

6

A very successful campaign

Does your family watch the Rose Bowl Game on January 1st? It’s one of the oldest postseason football games in American history . But, did you know that its origin stems from a tourism campaign?

In the 1890s, the city of Pasadena, California, started celebrating the Tournament of Roses Parade on New Year’s Day as a way to promote the city’s mild weather to tourists on the East Coast . To increase promotion, a postseason college football game was played in 1902, but the result was so lopsided —49-0— that it was not repeated the following years. In 1916, a new game was organized with resounding success, and it has been held annually since then.

7

The original Black Friday

B efore being synonymous with big sales and discounts, Black Friday was synonymous with crisis . The first recorded use of ‘Black Friday’ dates back to 1869, when the stock market suffered a devastating crash due to financial speculation. The economic effects of the crash were so severe that the name connoted calamity and misery.

How did it become associated with the day after Thanksgiving? In the 1950s, Philadelphia received hordes of tourists who came to shop and attend the annual Army-Navy football game the day after Thanksgiving, creating such chaos that the police forces dubbed it the "Black Friday". To counteract the negativity, retailers adopted the name in association with massive discounts.

8

From Decoration to Memorial Day

The last Monday of May, America remembers and honors those who laid down their lives in defense of the country. Friends and relatives of fallen service members gather to lay wreaths and flags in cemeteries ; the Memorial Day holiday also serves as the unofficial starting point for the summer season. But where does this tradition come from?

It wasn’t always Memorial Day. Originally called ‘Decoration Day’, the tradition of adorning graves started after the Civil War , and it was first celebrated on a national scale in 1868. After World War I, the tradition was expanded to include all American soldiers fallen during a military conflict.

9

Hedgehog Day

You might just know about it because of the popular 1993 Bill Murray movie, but Groundhog Day is real, and it’s celebrated every February 2nd. According to tradition, if a groundhog emerging from its burrow sees its shadow, it will go back to hibernate , and there will be six more weeks of winter. If not, spring will come early. But did you know that the tradition usually observed the behavior of a different animal?

Though Groundhog Day is celebrated across America —and even Canada— it was initially a Pennsylvania tradition, brought by German and Dutch immigrants. Back in Europe, they observed the behavior of hedgehogs and badgers to predict the length of winter, but these were not native to America. Looking for a similar local animal, they turned to the groundhog.

10

The 6-month difference

We can name a select few holidays that are celebrated internationally, such as New Year’s Day or Christmas. But what about Labor Day? While nearly 160 countries across the globe celebrate it on May 1st, the U.S. celebrates it six months later , on the first Monday in September.

Labor Day (also known as International Workers’ Day) started as a commemoration of the 1886 Haymarket Affair in Chicago, where a protest for workers’ rights ended with several casualties. As the protest was linked to socialist labor movements, the U.S. government was wary of celebrating workers on that date . As a compromise with labor activists, President Grover Cleveland instituted Labor Day as a federal holiday in 1894, but deliberately chose a date as far away as possible.