Former U.S. President Franklin Pierce was arrested during his term as President for running over an old lady with his horse, but the charges were later dropped.
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In ancient Athens, the worlds first democracy, they had a process called ostracism, where once a year the people could vote on the politician they thought was most destructive to the democratic process. The “winner” was banished from Athens for 10 years.
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In 2005, the Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, insulted Finnish cuisine and joked that Finns ate “marinated reindeer”. In 2008, Finland won an international pizza contest, beating Italy. The name of the winning pizza was “Pizza Berlusconi” and it was made of smoked reindeer.
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Abraham Lincoln was a licensed bartender.
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There was a pre-WWII movement called Technocracy, which held that scientists and engineers should take over the government and economy from politicians and economists. The leader of the movement was known as the Great Engineer.
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No president of the United States was an only child.
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Kim Jong-il is only 5' 2'' tall. He wears four-inch lifts in his shoes to compensate for his short stature.
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In 1916, a US amendment was proposed to put all acts of war to a national vote. If you voted yes you would have to register as a volunteer for service in the United States Army.
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