Happy July 3, America. We’re in that awkward limbo between the real birthday of our country and the fake one. No matter, though, because Friday’s Fourth of July jubilations are sure to make you forget which day it is anyway.

While you’re standing around the grill, donning your finest American flag-laden garb brewski in hand, we want to make sure you don’t sound like an idiot. No, it has nothing to do with the fact that you’ll probably be slurring your words like a champ. I’m more so talking about substance.

So to help you be even more American, a true patriot, here are five fun facts to help get your red, white and blue blood pumping.

1. Teddy Roosevelt took bullets like a champ

Obviously, everybody knows that TR was a rowdy son of a gun. And I mean that with the utmost affection. But he once delivered a 90-minute speech with a bullet in his chest. Prior to taking the podium, Roosevelt was shot point blank by a would-be assassin using a .38 caliber pistol. If it hadn’t been for Roosevelt’s steel glasses case and fifty-page speech folded in half situated in his pocket, the bullet would’ve struck his heart and died.

2. James Garfield was a multilingual, ambidextrous writer

You probably haven’t heard much about James Garfield. He probably died one of the more grueling presidential deaths out of everybody. He was shot but the medical treatment at the time probably did him much more harm than good. While alive, though, this ambidextrous fellow could write in Latin and Greek, one in each hand, at the exact same time. Mind blown.

3. James K. Polk only wanted to serve one term

Can you imagine a president only wanting to serve for four years in office? Crazy talk. James Polk, considered by pretty much everyone to be the first dark horse candidate for the presidency, vowed to only serve a single term – a gracious move that mirrors George Washington’s precedent of relinquishing the office after serving two. Polk set an agenda that he could accomplish in four years and did exactly that – annexing Texas, settling border disputes over the Oregon territory and acquiring California.

4. George Washington’s salary was more than Barack Obama’s

Technically. I’m taking into account the adjustment for inflation. In 1789 when George Washington was elected, a $25,000 salary was given to him. In 2012 dollars, that’s about $673,451. Current President Barack Obama makes $400,000 as the commander-in-chief. That mark was designated in 2001 and, in 2012 dollars, is worth about $519,979.

5. Skinny dipping

John Quincy Adams, son of my homeboy John Adams, enjoyed swimming in the Potomac River in his birthday suit rather than his bathing suit. Supposedly he enjoyed skinny dipping as a way of taking in the morning. Also, and totally random, JQA was the first president to have his photo taken.