Abraham Lincoln

February 12, 2025

Fast Facts
Career Timeline
Surprising Facts

Sure, we know Abraham Lincoln was a U.S. president (the 16th, to be precise). Maybe we remember something about the Emancipation Proclamation or the Gettysburg Address. But did you know that he was born to illiterate parents? Or that he discovered his knack for easy conversation while working in a general store? Come along as we take a look back at some remarkable moments in the life of Abraham Lincoln on his February 12 birthday.

Fast Facts

Birth date:

February 12, 1809

Death date:

April 15, 1865 (age 56)

Zodiac Sign:

Aquarius

Career timeline

February 12, 1809

A future U.S. president is born

Abraham Lincoln was born to essentially illiterate parents in a log cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky.

1831

Life as a young man

Lincoln left home at age 22, moving his way up from working as a laborer, to a store owner.

1858

Senate race & Lincoln-Douglas debates

Lincoln participated in several election debates on the subject of slavery, speaking out passionately in favor of abolition.

1863

Turmoil and hope

Lincoln delivered the Emancipation Proclamation, which began to change the goal of the Civil War from saving the Union to abolishing slavery.

April 15, 1865

Assassination

Following getting shot by confederate sympathizer John Wilkes, Lincoln remained unconscious for nine hours and died the next morning.

5 Things You Don't Know About Lincoln

His mother died young
Lincoln's mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln, died at the age of 34 from tremetol (milk sickness) when he was only nine.
His parents were uneducated
Lincoln's parents were nearly illiterate, including his stepmother — who encouraged young Abraham to learn to read — which he largely accomplished on his own.
Lincoln was largely self-educated
Any formal education Lincoln received during his childhood likely added up to 18 months at most; he later taught himself the law and passed the Illinois state bar exam.
Lincoln's family members were "squatters" at one time
A land dispute in 1817 forced the Lincoln family from their Kentucky home; they found themselves "squatting" on a small piece of land in Indiana, which Lincoln's father eventually purchased.
He had a rocky relationship with Mary Todd
They got engaged in 1840, broke up a year later, reunited at a social function, and eventually married in 1842.