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I'll take some fun American facts, please!

Today You Learned about Gilbert! Or, as he’s more commonly known, the Marquis de Lafayette. Or as Lin Manuel-Miranda calls him, “Everyone’s favorite fighting Frenchman.”

Also, uh, this picture was taken in a room before I noticed the sign that said ‘No pictures, please,’ so, uh… this photo shouldn’t technically exist.

So you probably know that the Marquis de Lafayette was a young Frenchman who came to the colonies to help the Patriots fight for independence from Britain, and became one of Washington’s top generals, who helped build support for the American cause among his fellow Frenchmen (if you didn’t know that, call your high school history teacher and beg him or her to do a better job). He’s also the namesake of every ‘Lafayette’ and ‘Fayetteville’ you’ll find across the US today.

Things you may not know!

-His full name was Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette.

-He offered to serve in the Patriot army without pay.

-He wrote the Declaration of the Rights of Man, the document laying out some of the ideals at the beginning of the French Revolution.

-While he’s buried in France, he’s buried under American soil from Bunker Hill that was sprinkled on his grave.

-Legend has it that during World War I, the American troops declared “Lafayette, we are here,” upon arriving in Paris, as a sort of ‘return the favor’ deal for his part in fighting for the United States.