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Entry bubble Happy Birthday Thomas Jefferson!

By: Jake | April 13, 2009 | Category: Fun

Thomas JeffersonToday is Thomas Jefferson's 266th birthday. We've celebrated George Washington's and Abraham Lincoln's birthdays, and today we are giving TJ his due.

During a 1962 White House dinner featuring 49 Nobel prize winners, President John F. Kennedy remarked, "I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent and of human knowledge that has ever been gathered together at the White House—with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."

Kennedy's remarks weren't really a stretch. Jefferson's major accomplishments include writing the Declaration of Independence, completing the Louisiana Purchase as third President of the United States and selling his personal library to restore the Library of Congress after it was burned by the British in 1814.

What most people don't realize is that outside of his government life, Jefferson was a polymath, or Renaissance man. Like Benjamin Franklin, Jefferson was an inventor. He was an accomplished architect who designed his home at Monticello and the Virginia State Capitol building and, along with Washington, initiated a public competition for the design of the U.S. Capitol. Jefferson is also credited as the "father of archeology" because he created a more scientific excavation technique by cutting a wedge into an Indian burial mound he was exploring instead of digging until he hit something (the common practice of the day).

Jefferson's three favorite accomplishments—noted on his epitaph—were authoring the Declaration of Independence and the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom and founding the University of Virginia. Jefferson's political and social philosophies are still applied to today's issues. Monticello is open for tours and you can become a fan of Monticello on Facebook.

In your opinion, what was Jefferson's greatest accomplishment?

| View Comments [2] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: jake   monticello   thomas_jefferson_birthday  

Comments (2):

blue comment bubble Posted by G Sandling on April 13, 2009 at 08:34 PM EDT

The Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom.

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blue comment bubble Posted by Sally G on April 14, 2009 at 03:03 AM EDT

Wow! Hard to pick a single accomplishment for such a versatile man. As a nonbeliever, I personally appreciate his "wall of separation between church and state", but I know he has many scientific accomplishments, too. Monticello is such a beautiful building that it speaks volumes about his abilities as an architect—and "he played the violin". . . . one could go on and on!
Happy Birthday, Thomas Jefferson!

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