Anyone who knows me knows I read a lot of books simultaneously. Some I burn through at lightning speed, but others are a long haul. One such book for me right now is Ron Chernow's Washington, an 800-plus-page doorstop of a novel filled with tons of enlightening and shocking facts about our nation's first president.

1. He once ordered dried beetle as an aphrodisiac

Shortly after his marriage to Martha Dandridge Custis, he placed an order in London for "four ounces of Spanish fly," an aphrodisiac of dried beetles.

2. He was very sickly throughout his life

Despite being an avid outdoorsman, Washington is still on record as one of America's unhealthiest presidents. The laundry list of illnesses he contracted in his life includes diphtheria, tuberculosis, dysentery and malaria.

3. He may have been infertile

Historians suspect that Washington, the father of his country, was rendered infertile by a nasty bout of tuberculosis he contracted before his marriage.

4. He was a stepfather

Although he never had children of his own, following their nuptials on January 6, 1759, he became a stepfather to Jack and Patsy Custis, Martha's children from her previous marriage.

5. February 22, 1732 wasn't really his birthday

His real birth date was February 11, 1731, according to the Julian calendar used by the British at the time. When the Gregorian calendar was finally adopted by the British in 1752, it moved his birthday a year and 11 days farther down the line.

6. The famous white hair was not a wig

Instead, the natural ginger powdered his hair liberally.

7.He was not fond of speeches.

Case in point, his second inaugural address was only 135 words long.

8. He didn't have a middle name

It did not become common practice until the 19th century.

9. He was not very religious

Though he attended an Anglican church regularly with his wife, he never took communion. This did not stop him from being a lifelong proponent of religious freedom.

10. He started a war

When he was just 21, he was given a commission of a thousand men and sent to combat the French forces stationed in Ohio, in what is now known as the Braddock expedition. The British bloodbath that followed sparked the French and Indian War.

11. He was never formally educated

When he lost his father at the ripe old age of 11, there was no money to send him to school. Nevertheless, he fed his talent for math and became a land surveyor at 15.

12. He was not a party member

Although political parties did form during his first term, he flat-out refused to join either of them. In fact, his warning against the evils of partisanship forms a large part of his farewell address.

13. Much of Washington's social mobility was made possible by family deaths

14. He was a dog lover

He is known as the father of the American foxhound. His pet dogs had names like Sweetlips, Vulcan and Tipsy.

15. He freed 300 slaves in his will

In his will, the president stipulated that all his 300 slaves be freed after the death of his wife.