Interesting Facts About The White House That Will Amaze You (12 pics)

1

The press room used to be a pool. Franklin Delano Roosevelt liked to swim, he said it relaxes him. Years later, Richard Nixon decided he didn't need a pool and changed it to a press-conference room.

2

Speaking of pool, President Grant loved the other kind of pool. He ordered to build a room for playing pool between the White House and the Winter Garden, it wasn't a coincidence Grant's wife held parties in the garden.

3

Theodore Roosevelt named it The White House. He also expanded it.

4

James Hoban ( the architect who planned the White House) was actually Irish.

5

Hoban designed the project but it was built by locals... including 5 slaves. There names were Ben, Peter, Harry, Tom and Daniel. They worked 7 days a week with no pay.

6

Some presidents called it a "lonely place", President Truman called it a "luxurious prison" and Nixon was so lonely he talked to paintings.

7

There was a library where the Main Diner is now; The smaller diner was an office space before and has furniture from the times of James Monroe presidency.

8

The movie theater was made in 1942. The first movie shown there was "Birth of a Nation".

9

Before the President will think about building a border wall, he will have to think about building a higher fence. The fence is almost 7 feet high and has spikes but that turned out to be not enough. In 2014 a man wielding a knife climbed over it and got up to the door before Secret Service stopped him.

10

Harry S. Truman spent 54 million dollars on renovating the White House after he was taking a bath and the tub broke through the floor to land on a chandelier below. The President managed to jump out of the tub just in time and decide it was definitely time to renovate.

11

Bill Clinton had a running track built for him in the White House. There are no records of him using it and rumors said he preferred other "physical activities".