Today marks the 150^th anniversary of President Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Address.  In honor of the anniversary, here are a few of my favorite facts about the speech:

(1) The speech was only 272 words (which is shorter than the total number of words in this post).

(2) Lincoln wasn’t the keynote speaker – Edward Everett was.   Everett, who was considered to be a brilliant orator in the North, was invited to be the keynote speaker for the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery.  President Lincoln was only scheduled to make a few remarks.  Everett’s speech lasted over two hours and he later wrote to Lincoln that the President had accomplished in two minutes what took him two hours.

(3) Gettysburg was packed.  Gettysburg was a town of 2,500 people, but over 15,000 traveled to the town for the dedication.  Visitors had to double and triple up in beds.  Of the 38 lodgers staying at the home of prominent attorney David Willis, the only two guests to get their own beds were Everett and Lincoln.

(4) Lincoln almost did not make the trip to Gettysburg.   He was still mourning the death of his son Willie and his son Tad was very ill the morning he was scheduled to leave.  Over objection from Mary Todd, Lincoln left Washington on November 18 on a special train bound for Gettysburg.

(5) The initial reviews of the speech were mixed.  Some newspapers celebrated the speech, while others like the Patriot-News of Harrisburg Pennsylvania called it weak and poorly delivered.  That being said, the paper has now issued an official retraction of its original review of the Gettysburg Address.

For those of you looking for more interesting reads on the Gettysburg address, I definitely recommend the cartoon exploring the speech’s ultra famous first six words that Slate featured today.