Abraham Lincoln and Ben Franklin are both in sports halls of fame.

Swim goggles and cap

Abraham Lincoln and Benjamin Franklin aren’t just famous figures in American history — they were also accomplished athletes. Honest Abe has been honored by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, while Franklin earned a spot in the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

Standing 6 feet, 4 inches tall, Lincoln was a formidable opponent in amateur wrestling. At age 19, he reportedly defended his stepbrother’s river barge by throwing potential hijackers overboard. In 1831, he wrestled and defeated Jack Armstrong, the leader of a local gang in New Salem, Illinois. While some reports claim the pair may have actually fought to a stalemate, the bout earned Lincoln respect and a reputation for being tough. Lincoln continued to wrestle while studying law, and legend has it that he amassed more than 300 victories during a 12-year period, losing just one time. Lincoln was honored with the National Wrestling Hall of Fame’s Outstanding American award in 1992.

Franklin, meanwhile, was posthumously inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 1968. During his life, he was an avid swimmer and spent time teaching and coaching the sport in Europe and America. Franklin even proposed that all schools in Philadelphia institute swimming programs. As a scientist and experimenter, the founding father is also credited as an inventor or early adopter of many swimming-related innovations, including kites for kitesurfing, hand paddles, and flippers.

By the Numbers

Did you know?

Abraham Lincoln is the only U.S. President to receive a patent.

Of the 45 U.S. Presidents, only Abraham Lincoln has received a patent. Lincoln was granted Patent No. 6469 on May 22, 1849, for a device to help lift boats over shoals. Lincoln spent his teenage years traveling aboard riverboats and was well aware of the difficulties associated with water navigation. He began work on the invention in 1848 between sessions of Congress, after an incident in which he found himself stranded on a sandbar while traveling by boat back to Illinois. Lincoln enlisted the aid of Springfield mechanic Walter Davis to create a scale model replica of the device, which is on display today at the Smithsonian Institution. While Lincoln’s creation was never manufactured, he took the replica with him back to Washington, D.C., where he hired a local attorney to help him patent the idea.