Read the full story, published by Rauner Special Collections Library.

Happy Birthday, George. To celebrate, we have trotted out some memories of your youth. We know you really didn’t chop down a cherry tree, but you must remember the day, when you were a lad of 13, working out this mathematical equation. Your handwriting was beautiful!

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This 1745 mathematical exercise is attributed to 13-year-old George Washington. (Image courtesy of Rauner Special Collections Library)

Who knew then that you’d become a general and the president? Or that people would save locks of your hair as relics? We have plenty of manuscripts from those days as well, but we will save them for another birthday (including your letter to the Dartmouth Trustees).