Make History With This Quiz on Presidential Firsts

John Tyler — notoriously dubbed “His Accidency” — became President upon the death of William Henry Harrison, and served as commander in chief from 1841 until 1845. Tyler was the first Vice President elevated to the highest office in the land due to such an event. Tyler only served the one abbreviated term, and was succeeded by James K. Polk.

Though Alaska and Hawaii joined the nation in 1959 under Dwight D. Eisenhower, it wasn’t until 1971 that the U.S. President visited all 50 states while in office. The man to do so was Richard Nixon, who completed the run by attending a Republican fundraiser in Delaware. Three Presidents have accomplished the feat since: George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama.

The U.S. hasn’t always had the two-party system we’re so familiar with today. The first President, George Washington, didn't belong to any political party, and his successor John Adams was a Federalist. It wasn’t until Andrew Jackson — America’s seventh President, first elected in 1828 — that the commander in chief represented the Democratic Party, which was relatively new at the time.

The Oval Office is a timeless symbol of the American presidency, but it wasn’t used until the 27th President, William Howard Taft. Oval Office construction was completed in 1909, and Taft was sworn in as President in March of that same year. Despite not being finished until the 20th century, the Oval Office’s design originated from George Washington’s Blue Room.

When Warren G. Harding was elected in 1920, a Pittsburgh radio station broadcast election results live for the first time. Two years later on Flag Day (June 14, 1922), President Harding’s remarks to a crowd gathered for the dedication of a memorial for Francis Scott Key were simultaneously broadcast, making him the first U.S. President heard over radio.

Ever the adventurer, Theodore Roosevelt became the first President to take flight less than a decade after the airplane was invented. On October 11, 1910, Arch Hoxsey took the former President for a ride in his Wright Brothers airplane in Kinloch Field, St. Louis. The President was watched by more than 10,000 frightened spectators as he rode nearly 3 miles in less than four minutes around the aviation field. Upon landing, Roosevelt gave his approval, saying, "It was fine. Fine!"

It took until 1924 for a future President to be born in a real hospital, and that President was Jimmy Carter. Before that, almost every POTUS was born in their childhood home, which was normal for the time. After Carter, George H.W. Bush was born in his home, but every subsequent commander in chief was born in a hospital.

George Washington was pictured on a 10-cent postage stamp in 1847, becoming the first commander-in-chief on a stamp. Also that year, Ben Franklin was honored with a 5-cent stamp. Washington and Franklin were the only subjects depicted on definitive stamps for more than a decade. Since then, Washington has appeared on more than 300 U.S. stamps, making him the most pictured person in USPS history.

Unlike the seven men who preceded him, Martin Van Buren was not born a British subject. He was born in 1782, after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and was thus a U.S. citizen for his entire life. Immediately after Van Buren, President William Henry Harrison, who was born a British subject, took office, but every President since has been a U.S. citizen from birth.

Although John Quincy Adams, Martin Van Buren, and Zachary Taylor before him wore some kind of facial hair, no POTUS sported a beard until Abraham Lincoln. The Great Emancipator grew his beard on the suggestion of an 11-year-old girl who thought it would get him votes from women. Though Lincoln didn't start growing his beard until after he was elected in 1860, it is how most people remember him, and he appears with his beard on the penny and the $5 bill.

FDR was the first President to visit the USSR when he attended the Yalta Conference in 1945. Six years earlier, he became the first to appear on TV while he was at the New York World's Fair. But even before that, in 1933, Roosevelt became the first POTUS to appoint a female Cabinet member when he made Frances Perkins the U.S. Secretary of Labor. He was never awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

It wasn't until 2009 that a President had his official portrait taken with a digital camera, and that tech-savvy POTUS was Barack Obama. The image was taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II and was captured by Pete Souza, the official White House photographer. Five years later, Obama became the first President to have a 3D portrait taken using Mobile Light Stage technology.

After taking a reportedly unenjoyable ride in an early automobile called the Stanley Steamer in 1899, William McKinley is said to have remarked, "Stanley’s over-optimistic, I think, when he says those things will someday replace horses." Though McKinley was wrong about the future of cars, he left a lasting mark on their history, as his Steamer ride was the first time a President had ever ridden in an automobile.

Herbert Hoover was born on August 10, 1874, in West Branch, Iowa. Fifty-four years later, he would be elected President, becoming the first POTUS born west of the Mississippi River. Hoover remains the only President born in Iowa.

After Abraham Lincoln's death, his Vice President Andrew Johnson took over the highest office in the land. A few years into his presidency, Johnson tested the newly passed Tenure of Office Act of 1867 by illegally firing Lincoln's former secretary of war, Edward Stanton. The House impeached Johnson for it, but the President survived removal from office by just one vote in the Senate.

In the 1880s, James Garfield was elected as the 20th President. The 19 who came before him were all right-handed, making Garfield the first lefty ever to hold the office. Garfield was also said to be ambidextrous and had the ability to write in Greek and Latin with both hands at the same time. Since his tenure, many other left-handers have been commander-in-chief, including Gerald Ford and Barack Obama.

President George Washington oversaw the construction of the White House, which at that time was referred to as "the President's Mansion." However, it wasn't until 1800 that then-President John Adams and his wife, Abigail, moved in. Unfortunately, the building was only half-finished at the time, with lots of plaster left undone, wallpaper still drying, and leaky roofing.

In 1843, long after he had left office, John Quincy Adams sat for a photography session at his home in Massachusetts in 1843. A few daguerreotypes were taken at the time, and though Adams found them "hideous" and "too true to the original," they remain important historical artifacts. The images depict Adams at the age of 75 and are now held by the National Portrait Gallery under the care of the Smithsonian.

Woodrow Wilson became the first sitting President to visit Europe when he sailed to France in December 1918 for a World War I peace conference. He spent the next six months going back and forth to champion his idea for a League of Nations. Wilson traveled via the S.S. George Washington, which took nine days to cross the ocean before entering Brest harbor.

John F. Kennedy was appointed as an ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve in October 1941 and eventually became a commanding officer of PT-109, a patrol torpedo boat. In 1943, PT-109 was run over by a Japanese destroyer, cutting the boat in two. Kennedy survived the attack and swam five hours to Nauru Island. He then received the Purple Heart and was honorably discharged.