Pratibha Patil

Pratibha Patil was elected President of India in 2007, becoming the first woman president, and served until 2012.  Patil’s presidency was relatively quiet, but it was not without controversy, especially for her use of government funds. She was criticized for the large number of trips she took overseas, often accompanied by relatives.

Patrice Lumumba of the Congo

Patrice Émery Lumumba was a Congolese politician and independence leader who served as the first Prime Minister of the independent Democratic Republic of the Congo from June until September 1960. He played a significant role in the transformation of the Congo from a colony of Belgium into an independent republic.  He was assassinated in a CIA plot in 1961.

Edward Brooke

The thing I learned today is that Edward Brooke was a Republican politician who served as Senator of Massachusetts from 1967-79.  He was the first African-American senator elected popularly, and the only to serve multiple terms.  Barbara Walters claimed in her memoir Audition that she had an affair with Brooke in the 1970s.

The Bathtub Hoax was the result of a humor piece written in 1917 by H.L. Mencken. Titled "A Neglected Anniversary," it insinuated that Millard Fillmore popularized the bathtub by installing one in the White House.

Josef Hoop

Franz Josef Hoop was a diplomat and political figure from Liechtenstein who served as Prime Minister of Liechtenstein from 1928 to 1945. Hoop is best known for his efforts to retain Liechtenstein's neutrality and independence during World War II. Serving for seventeen years, he is the longest-serving prime minister in the country's history.

First presidential veto

George Washington exercised the first presidential veto of a Congressional bill on April 5, 1792. The bill introduced a new plan for dividing seats in the House of Representatives that would have increased the amount of seats for northern states. After consulting with his politically divided and contentious cabinet, Washington, who came from the southern state of Virginia, ultimately decided that the plan was unconstitutional because, in providing for additional representatives for some states, it would have introduced a number of representatives higher than that prescribed by the Constitution.

Under Gerald Ford, Dick Cheney was appointed White House Chief of Staff in 1975, making him the youngest to hold the post at 34. He is also an evil lying bastard who hates the poor and likes to shoot people in the face.

Calvin Coolidge's pets

Calvin Coolidge kept a menagerie of exotic animals during his tenure at the White House, including a pygmy hippopotamus named Billy, a wallaby, lion cubs, and a raccoon. He also had several cats and dogs.

Alleyne FitzHerbert was a 19th century British diplomat, the First Baron St. Helens. The mountain in Washington was named after him by explorer George Vancouver.

The "Smoking Gun tape" is one of the Watergate tapes, in which Nixon enters a criminal conspiracy by telling his administration to ask the CIA to get the Watergate investigation stopped.

The first prime minister of Japan, Ito Hirobumi, was also PM four more times (the 5th, 7th, and 10th). First taking office when the position was established in 1885, Ito was a samurai who was later assassinated by a Korean nationalist.

Edith Wilson was the only U.S. First Lady to be descended from Native American chieftains. The Powhatan princess Pocahontas was her direct ancestor.

Eisenhower's memoir

Dwight David Eisenhower was, before he became President of the U.S., a best selling author (for his memoir Crusade In Europe), president of Columbia University, NATO Supreme Commander, and a five-star general. What have you done with your life?

Hermann Goering was Hitler's commander of the Luftwaffe and was a WWI ace, with 22 confirmed kills. He committed suicide by cyanide at Nuremberg.

Martin Van Buren has several factoid-related bits. (1) He was the first president to be born an American citizen, born 1782, after the Revolution. (2) He was the first president not of British descent. (3) He was nicknamed "Old Kinderhook," or O.K., from the village where he was born. (4) Along with Thomas Jefferson, he served as Secretary of State, VP, and then president, the 'Triple Crown' of US politics. (5) He was the only president to see both the US Revolution and the Civil War, living from 1782 to 1862.

Aldo Moro was a two-time Prime Minister of Italy who was kidnapped off the streets of Rome by the Red Brigades in 1978 and killed by them.

Mugwumps were Republican political activists who supported Democratic candidate Grover Cleveland in the United States presidential election of 1884.

Nellie Tayloe Ross

Nellie Tayloe Ross was the United States' first female governor, elected in Wyoming in 1922. She was ushered in after the death of her husband vacated the post.

Eric Drummond, Earl of Perth, was a Scottish statesman who became the first Secretary General of the League of Nations in 1920.

Joseph Goebbels

Joseph Goebbels was Hitler's Minister of Propaganda. After Hitler's suicide, he tried to arrange a ceasefire with the soviets, then gave morphine and cyanide to his children, then killed his wife and himself.