1

Mamie Eisenhower was all in on pink

Image: Jei Lee

Mamie loved pink—she loved it so much that she committed fully to it. Her wardrobe? Pink. Her bathroom? Pink. Her Christmas decorations? You guessed it. The obsession grew so much in the 1950s that people started calling that particular shade "Mamie Pink." Entire kitchens and bathrooms across the country followed suit. Basically, she was the original style influencer!

2

Eleanor Roosevelt had a press corps, but no men were allowed

Image: The Climate Reality Project

If we’re talking about extraordinary First Ladies, Eleanor Roosevelt takes first place. She wasn’t passive at all; she really used her power. For example, she held more than 300 press conferences as First Lady, but only invited female journalists. Why? To ensure women reporters could keep their jobs during the Great Depression. That’s how you use your platform!

3

Edith Wilson quietly took over after her husband’s stroke

Image: Amy Hirschi

When President Woodrow Wilson suffered a stroke in 1919, his wife Edith didn’t just support him—she actually stepped in. She screened his communications, reviewed paperwork, and even made some decisions on his behalf. Some historians say she was essentially running the country. No title. No credit. But she kept things going. What a loyal First Lady!

4

Michelle Obama won a Grammy for reading

Image: 2H Media

Not all Grammys go to singers, you know! Michelle Obama, for example, won one in 2020 for Best Spoken Word Album, narrating her memoir Becoming . It’s just one more thing to add to her impressive list: lawyer, mom, health advocate, style icon—and Grammy winner. Not bad, huh?

5

Dolley Madison saved a piece of American history

Image: Walter Martin

When the British were about to burn Washington in 1814, Dolley Madison didn’t just pack up the silver—she made sure George Washington’s portrait was removed from the wall and carried to safety. That same painting still hangs in the White House today. Remarkably, Dolley hosted elegant tea parties even while preserving national artifacts.

6

Pat Nixon was the first to rock pants in public

Image: BBiDDac

In the early 1970s, it was a big deal when Pat Nixon wore trousers to a public event. Up until that point, First Ladies stuck to dresses. Well, women in general, right? Her choice stirred up headlines, but let’s be real: it was a practical move. Sometimes comfort is the statement.

7

Lou Hoover could speak fluent Chinese

Image: Cherry Lin

Lou Hoover was no ordinary First Lady. She spoke Mandarin Chinese fluently, and she and her husband Herbert used it to have private conversations in public—pretty genius, honestly. She also held a degree in geology and could out-hike most people in D.C. Did you know any of this?

8

Jackie Kennedy smoked a lot in private

Image: Daniele Levis Pelusi

To the public, Jackie Kennedy was a fashion icon: pillbox hats, white gloves, and perfect posture. Behind the scenes, however, she was a heavy smoker. The public didn’t find out until much later. She wasn’t any less of a lady because of this—but you know, they show us whatever they want, right?

9

Melania Trump was a model and a polyglot

Image: Clarissa Watson

Melania Trump brought something completely different to the East Wing. She’s the only First Lady who worked as a professional fashion model and the only one whose first language wasn’t English. She speaks five languages. Say what you want—in whatever language—she’ll probably understand it.

10

Rosalynn Carter sat in on cabinet meetings

Image: Hoàng Ngọc Huy

Rosalynn Carter wasn’t content to just host luncheons—she sat in on Cabinet meetings, the first First Lady to do so since Eleanor Roosevelt. Why? Because she wanted to be fully informed when supporting her husband’s decisions.

11

Barbara Bush once crashed a frat party

Image: Richard Liu

Long before she became America’s grandma, Barbara Bush had a fun, mischievous side. While visiting George at Yale, she once showed up at a frat party in costume—and blended right in. There goes the stereotype that First Ladies are all etiquette and pearls.

1

Tom Sawyer

Image: Daniel Chekalov

We’ll start with an American classic . If Mark Twain is considered "the Father of American Literature" , then it would also be fair to consider Tom Sawyer as the father of many great literary characters. And while it is true that "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" was heavily overshadowed by its sequel "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", we have decided to choose Tom over Huck mostly because he was Mark Twain’s first and perhaps most iconic character.

Tom is introduced in the novel as an orphan boy who lives with his Aunt Polly in Missouri. Characterized by his penchant for avoiding work, Tom often uses his cunning and wits to skip school and chores. Perhaps his most famous feat is convincing the neighborhood kids that painting Polly’s fence was immense amounts of fun, and charging them for the privilege of doing his busy work.

2

Captain Ahab

Image: Austin Neill

Herman Melville tackled the issues of fanaticism and the battle between humankind and nature in his 1851 masterpiece "Moby Dick". In that sense, the character Melville chose as a vessel to portray these themes is definitively Captain Ahab, the frantic and monomaniacal captain of the whaling ship Pequod , hellbent on capturing the great white whale Moby-Dick.

While Ahab's obsession is fueled by revenge (since the whale bit off his leg), many critics observe how the captain’s mind doesn’t allow for any other feeling other than his mindless obsession with catching Moby-Dick. In the end, this hatred makes him forget to care for himself and his crew, and in their final battle, the whale drags Captain Ahab’s body beneath the sea.

3

Jack Torrance

Image: Luis Villasmil

Immortalized by Jack Nicholson’s superb performance in the 1980 film adaptation of "The Shining", Jack Torrance is arguably the tortured main character of this iconic horror masterpiece. Jack is a down-on-his-luck writer who gets hired as the winter caretaker of the fictional Overlook Hotel, a historical location in the Colorado Rockies.

Much like Captain Ahab, a big part of "The Shining" focuses on Jack’s fight against his own demons. However, where the Captain fails Torrance succeeds: While the dark presence that rules the Overlook possesses him and makes him attack his family, Jack overcomes these manipulations and sacrifices himself in order to save his wife and son.

4

Hester Prynne

Image: Debby Hudson

Hester Prynne might be the very first American heroin : The protagonist of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s "The Scarlet Letter" faces public humiliation and the disdain of her fellow residents of the Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony, who force her to wear a red "A" on her clothes after committing the sin of adultery.

Yet, Hester always maintains her dignity and love for her daughter Pearl throughout the rest of her life. In the end, the red "A" that decorates her tombstone is not a reminder of her transgressions, but a monument to her determination.

5

Ignatius J. Reilly

Image: mana5280

Ignatius J. Reilly, the bumbling protagonist of "A Confederacy of Dunces", is no hero. He is more of a man-child, an unemployed and unpleasant buffoon whining about the lack of morality in his birthplace, the beautiful city of New Orleans. However, there’s no denying that Ignatius is a wonderfully crafted character and an essential part of what makes John Kennedy Toole’s novel so unforgettable.

"A Confederacy of Dunces" is, undeniably, a unique book: Its characters are as particular and hilarious as the bizarre situations in which they constantly find themselves. In that regard, Ignatius is the perfect protagonist for this unparalleled masterpiece.

6

Philip Marlowe

Image: Michelle Ding

What image comes to mind whenever you hear the phrase "private detective"? Do you picture a sullen man dressed in a beige overcoat and matching fedora , immersed in intense inner monologues about unsolved cases? Well, if that’s the case, you can thank iconic American author Raymond Chandler for creating the quintessential private detective, Philip Marlowe.

Immortalized by the great Humphrey Bogart in the film "The Big Sleep", this chainsmoking detective is one of pop culture’s most iconic characters and one that has endured as a symbol throughout its 90 years of history.

7

Atticus Finch

Image: David Veksler

Just like Philip Marlowe, many consider Atticus Finch to be the quintessential American lawyer : After all, his character is defined by his honesty and dedication to justice. However, the depth of this character from Harper Lee’s "To Kill a Mockingbird" is not only determined by his morality, but for the unconditional love he feels for his two children, Scout and Jem.

"To Kill a Mockingbird" tells the story of the Finch family, which is intertwined with the prejudice-filled trial of Tom Robinson. Atticus acts as Tom’s defense attorney, as he battles the hateful mob mentality of this 30’s Alabama town.

8

The March sisters

Image: micheile henderson

It would feel wrong to separate the four March sisters - Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy - from Louisa May Alcott’s iconic novel "Little Women", so we have decided to include multiple characters in this entry. Alcott’s masterpiece describes the lives of these four sisters and focuses on their passage into womanhood.

Set in 19th century Massachusetts, "Little Women" is considered to this day to be one of the cornerstones of American literature . Not only that, many believe that the author was able to create a new form of sentimental literature with this book.

9

Blanche Dubois

Image: Lokesh Anand

Tennessee Williams's "A Streetcar Named Desire" proves itself to be a gemstone of American literature just by the genius in its title: While it might seem completely objective, referring to a real-life New Orleans streetcar line named "Desire", it also perfectly describes the unstoppable passion that involves the characters of this play.

In that regard, this play’s protagonist, Blanche Debois, is definitively unforgettable: A stunning yet down-on-its-luck Southern Belle who moves to her sister’s place in New Orleans. She is considered one of the most iconic characters in theater and was played on uncountable occasions.

10

Dorothy Gale

Image: ActionVance

We’ll end this article with one of the most popular American characters in our country’s history. Few characters are as iconic in pop culture as Dorothy Gale is: Immortalized by Judy Garland’s unforgettable performance, Dorothy’s trip to the wonderful land of Oz will forever be a part of American culture and history.

Perhaps the reason why this character is so memorable is the fact that, at the time when L. Frank Baum’s original book was published, Dorothy seemed to be just like every other American girl living on a farm. In a way, millions of American children were able to join Dorothy throughout her trip through the yellow brick road.

1

The spacesuit satellite

Image: Sieuwert Otterloo

Shoving an astronaut suit out of an airlock and into space might seem like a scene from a movie, but it really happened. In 2003, an empty spacesuit was thrown into space , nicknamed Ivan Ivanovitch (or Mr. Smith), stuffed with old clothes and a radio transmitter .

The idea was that old spacesuits could be used as satellites. SuitSat-1, as it was named, went on to spend several months in silent orbit before entering Earth's atmosphere and burning up on September 7, 2006.

2

The "invisible" gorilla

Image: Mike Arney

In this strange psychological experiment, researchers asked participants to watch a video of people passing a basketball and count how many passes were made. The catch was that, during the video, a person in a gorilla suit walked into the frame, stopped to pound its chest, and then walked out.

The study revealed a curious phenomenon known as "inattentional blindness": people were so focused on counting the passes that they failed to notice the gorilla .

3

Space spiders

Image: Vidar Nordli-Mathisen

In 2011, scientists sent two golden silk orb-weaver spiders on a 45-day trip aboard the ISS. They were kept in an adequate habitat, and both spiders adapted beautifully, continuing to spin their webs and hunt for food.

But not everything was normal. In microgravity, the spiders spun their webs differently —flatter and rounder—compared to the more three-dimensional, asymmetrical structures that orb-weavers spin on Earth.

4

Bitter fingernails

Image: Nick Karvounis

In 1942, a professor conducted an experiment with boys who had been diagnosed as chronic nail-biters. He used a phonograph with the recorded message " My fingernails taste bitter ," playing it over and over at night in the room where the boys slept.

At the end of the summer, the professor examined the boys' nails and concluded that 40% of them had kicked the habit.

5

Syrup swimming

Image: Arwin Neil Baichoo

In 2004, sixteen people with varying swimming skills swam in both a regular pool and a pool of guar syrup , which is twice as thick as water, for an experiment conducted by the University of Minnesota. The differences in their recorded times were negligible.

6

Bearcats and popcorn

Image: Corina Rainer

People encountering bearcats have noted that these animals smell like movie theater popcorn. A non-profit organization tested the bearcat's urine , and the results showed the presence of a chemical compound called 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline.

As it turns out, this is the same compound that gives popcorn its signature smell .

7

The 28-hour day

Image: Ocean Ng

Hoping to find out whether the 24-hour sleep-wake human rhythm was merely a habit, two scientists spent 32 days in a cave to avoid any external reference to day and night.

They tried out a 28-hour day, sleeping for 9 hours, working for 10 hours, and having 9 hours of leisure time . The younger scientist adapted within the first week, while the older one failed to adapt.

8

The fake doctor

Image: Hunters Race

A fake doctor delivered a lecture in 1970 to a crowd of assembled experts titled "Mathematical Game Theory as Applied to Physician Education." His performance impressed the audience so much that nobody noticed he was an actor who didn’t know anything about game theory.

The researchers behind the experiment wanted to find out if a great delivery technique could fool a group of experts—and it did.

9

The electric kite

Image: Brett Wharton

The most famous experiment on our list is also one of the strangest. In 1752, Benjamin Franklin flew a kite in a thunderstorm to demonstrate the electrical nature of lightning .

While many believe otherwise, no lightning hit the kite. Instead, ambient electrical charge moved through the hemp wire, and when Franklin touched the key attached to the wire, he felt a spark, thus proving the existence of such electricity.

10

Moon trees

Image: David Dibert

As we've learned, Americans like taking things to outer space and then bringing them right back. The Apollo 14 mission carried hundreds of tree seeds into space . These "moon trees" were then planted across the country by the US Forest Service.

Unsurprisingly, the trees grew just like any other tree of the same species.