Founding Fathers

SUBJECT OF

FACTS (10)
EVENTS (7)

Jul 2005	Number of America’s nine “Founding Fathers” who denied the divinity of Jesus: 7	Harper's Index Source: Frank Lambert, Purdue University (West Lafayette, Ind.)
Jul 2005	Minimum number of illegitimate children had by America's nine “Founding Fathers”: 9	Harper's Index Source: Harper's research
Jul 2003	Hours Alexander Hamilton spent in 1787 arguing at the Constitutional Convention that America should have a king: 5	Harper's Index Source: Prof. P. S. Ruckman, Rock Valley College (Rockford, Ill.)
Feb 2000	Number of textbook reproductions of George Washington Crossing the Delaware retouched by a Georgia school last year: 2,322	Harper's Index Source: Muscogee County School District (Columbus, Ga.).
Feb 2000	Number of parental complaints that prompted a Georgia school to decide that Washington's watch fob resembled genitalia: 0	Harper's Index Source: Muscogee County School District (Columbus, Ga.).
Jul 1999	Chances that an American adult can't identify the source of the phrase “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”: 7 in 10	Harper's Index Source: Colonial Williamsburg (Williamsburg, Va.)
Jul 1999	Amount spent last year by Mount Vernon's directors to give George Washington's reputation more “sizzle”: $3,000,000	Harper's Index Source: George Washington's Mount Vernon (Mount Vernon, Va.)
Feb 1999	Weeks after DNA testing confirmed Bill Clinton's adultery last fall that such testing confirmed Thomas Jefferson's as well: 7	Harper's Index Source: The Starr Report/Monticello (Charlottesville, Va.)
Aug 1998	Number of days after July 4, 1776, that the majority of signatures were appended to the Declaration of Independence: 29	Harper's Index Source: The World Almanac Book of Facts 1996, World Almanac Books (Mahwah, N.J.)
Jul 1998	Number of field hands working at Mt. Vernon this summer as Pioneer Farmer Interns: 7	Harper's Index Source: George Washington's Mt. Vernon Estate and Gardens (Mt. Vernon, Va.)

July 4, 2008	The George Washington Foundation unearthed the founding father's childhood home in Fredericksburg, Virginia, uncovering slave quarters and a Civil War trench but no cherry tree. “I don't think we'll ever find the cherry tree,” an archaeologist said.	Weekly Review By Chantal Clarke Source: CNN.com
January 4, 2007	The 110th Congress convened on Capitol Hill, and Representative Nancy Pelosi of California kicked off her tenure as America's first female speaker of the House with four days of parties dubbed “Pelosi-Palooza.” The festivities included a performance by singer Tony Bennett and an honorary street-naming in Pelosi's hometown of Baltimore. Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia disrupted the Congress's opening prayer with shouts of “Yes, Lord!” and “Mmmhmmm!” and Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts mimed tipping a bottle to his mouth. Congress's first Muslim member took his oath on a Koran once owned by Thomas Jefferson, and a Buddhist representative swore in on no book at all.	Weekly Review By Miriam Markowitz Source 1: Washington Post Source 2: Washington Post Source 3: CBS News Source 4: AZ Central
September 5, 2006	Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice compared critics of the Iraq war to Northerners who sought peace with the South during the Civil War. “There were people who thought the Declaration of Independence was a mistake,” she said.	Weekly Review By Theodore Ross Source: New York Times
November 22, 2005	President Bush issued pardons to two turkeys, which were then sent to Disneyland to serve as grand marshals at a parade. “The granting of the turkey pardon,” said the President, “is not a responsibility that I take lightly.” The turkeys, Marshmallow and Yam, earned their pardons when they beat out Democracy and Freedom in an online poll.	Weekly Review By Paul Ford Source: The White House
November 19, 2005	Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito attempted to distance himself from his statement, “the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion,” which he wrote in an application for a job in the Reagan Administration. “It was a political job,” he clarified, “and that was 1985.”	Weekly Review By Paul Ford Source: The Boston Globe
July 4, 2005	It was the 229th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.	Weekly Review By Paul Ford Source: Arrivenet.com
July 4, 2003	Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who was a guest of honor at the opening of the new National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, attempted to unveil a painting of the signing of the Constitution, with Justices O'Connor, Antonin Scalia, and other celebrity guests in place of the Founding Fathers; instead, a large steel-and-wood structure that was suspended over O'Connor collapsed, narrowly missing her but striking Senator Arlen Specter.	Weekly Review By Roger D. Hodge Source: Associated Press

SEPTEMBER 2008

TYRANNY OF THE TEST
One Year as a Kaplan Coach in the Public Schools
By Jeremy Miller

THROUGH THE OPEN DOOR
Searching for Deadly Toys in China’s Pearl River Delta
By Donovan Hohn

WILLOWS VILLAGE
Story by Dagoberto Gilb

Also: Vivian Gornick and Francine Prose