On this date in 1850 American President Zachary Taylor died days after consuming a large amount of iced water, cold milk, green apples and cherries. Was it gastroenteritis? A bad case of diarrhea (I hear laughter over the interwebs)? Was his food poisoned with arsenic? Did the Mexicans finally get revenge for Taylor’s victory during the Mexican-American War? There are many theories behind what happened to this short-tenured President (he was in office for only 16 months). I guess we’ll never know for sure, besides the fact he probably wasn’t even real (I mean, where’s his facebook?) but his death led to Millard Fillmore becoming another forgotten U.S. President. So thank God for that.
Sculpted by the Katherine Stubergh-Keller studio, and displayed at the National Presidential Wax Museum in Keystone, South Dakota.
