George Washington: Difference between revisions

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7iVsdRbhnc The closest thing Americans have to a real-life superhero.] While he might or might not have been Batman, Washington was definitely Bruce Wayne: His extensive real estate holdings made him the wealthiest man in Virginia, possibly in all North America. A man known as [[wikipedia:Parson Weems|Parson Weems]] wrote many stories about Washington, including the famous one that as a child, Washington chopped down his father's prize cherry tree, but, being [[Will Not Tell a Lie|unable to tell a lie]], promptly confessed to it.<ref>Although considered debunked for decades, historical research in the early 21st Century indicated [http://carlanthonyonline.com/2012/02/20/new-evidence-tells-truth-of-george-washingtons-cherry-tree-tale/ the anecdote may be more plausible] than has long been believed.</ref> Another (equally apocryphal) story says that he was able to throw a silver dollar across the Potomac River. Other rumors include tidbits like how his teeth were made of wood, and he was a Christian who prayed every day - though neither would have been unusual at the time. The American capital, Washington, D.C., is named for him, as is the state of Washington on the opposite side of the country (it gets confusing sometimes). Also no less than 30 counties, 27 cities and villages, ''241'' townships, and numerous parks, streets, and public schools throughout the United States.

* [[Perpetual Frowner]]: The result of woodenhaving to force his mouth closed around primitive spring-loaded dentures, making him look uncommonly grim in pictures. Washington's scary countenance so frightened [[John Adams]] that he refused to wear dentures himself.

* Portrayed as [[The Eeyore]] and [[The Ghost]] in the musical ''[[1776]]'', where he never appears but his letters from the front line are a constant discouragement to the Continental Congress. He also features in Adams' acidic forecast of how future historians would view the American Revolution: