How to remember the names and dates
of all the American Presidents
| Examples of Pseudonumerology®
in use:
How to remember the names and dates of all the American Presidents |
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How could you manage to learn the names of all the presidents of the United States, and the years they held office? Before I started reading about memory techniques, I would have said that I couldn't do that if you paid me. Now I know that memorizing this sort of information is not really hard – anyone can do it after learning some simple memory techniques. (Too bad we don't learn these techniques in schools!) Maybe no one will pay you for memorizing, but you feel pretty rich when you have done it, and know that you could do it with other information if you want to.
Here, I'll show you how to memorize names and dates, using the US Presidents as examples. You start with a list, but you don't memorize the list – that is much too hard, because names and dates are too boring to stick in our memories. Instead, you change the information on the list into visual images that are fun and easy to remember. Once you have created these images and "seen" them actively in your mind, you will remember them for a long time. When you do forget them, you can refresh your memory quickly by looking at your new list of silly images.
There is no limit to the amount of information that you can memorize in this way. If your list is twice as long, it will take twice as long to memorize, but is not more difficult. How long does it take? I think you could memorize this very long list in just a few hours. Most of that time would go to reading these pages and other pages on the Pseudonumerology.com web site, and the rest of the time would be spent closing your eyes and mentally "seeing" the silly images you use. This is not a boring or painful way to spend a few hours! Here are the steps you must go through:
First get the information on a (horrible!) list.
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The next job is to learn the names. But names are hard to remember, or link together, unless you make them interesting, or silly, or fun. So you change each name into an interesting visual image.
Here is a new list, with a silly image for each of the names
(except Washington and Lincoln, whose images are memorable enough).
| George Washington | George Washington |
| John Adams | Adam (in Eden) |
| Thomas Jefferson | Jif peanut butter |
| James Madison | a mad-about-ice cream son |
| James Monroe | money laid out in a row |
| John Quincy Adams | queens |
| Andrew Jackson | a car jack |
| Martin Van Buren | a van burning |
| William Henry Harrison | wild hair |
| John Tyler | tiler, gluing ceramic tiles |
| James Knox Polk | dancing a polka |
| Zachary Taylor | a taylor sewing clothes |
| Millard Fillmore | a filmer (camera-man) |
| Franklin Pierce | a piercing arrow in the cheek |
| James Buchanan | a book-cannon (cannon disquised as a book) |
| Abraham Lincoln | Abe Lincoln with his stovepipe hat |
| Andrew Johnson | a handy john is well equipped |
| Ulysses Simpson Grant | a US grand(piano) |
| Rutherford Birchard Hayes | a haystack |
| James Abram Garfield | the cartoon cat Garfield |
| Chester Alan Arthur | a chess King Arthur |
| Grover Cleveland | Cleveland Ohio |
| Benjamin Harrison | a bunch of hair tied up |
| Grover Cleveland | a clover field or clover-land |
| William McKinley | Mount McKinley |
| Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt | a teddy bear of felt |
| William Howard Taft | a tuft of grass |
| Woodrow Wilson | Woodrow Wilson a Wilson-brand sports item |
| Warren Gamaliel Harding | hard ding of a hard bell |
| Calvin Coolidge | a cool-edge of a knife. |
| Herbert Clark Hoover | a Hoover vacuum cleaner |
| Franklin Delano Roosevelt | a rose belt |
| Harry S. Truman | A true-man (a real he-man) |
| Dwight David Eisenhower | ice-in-the-shower |
| John Fitzgerald Kennedy | candy |
| Lyndon Baines Johnson | a London john |
| Richard Milhous Nixon | knickers on |
| Gerald Rudolph Ford | a model-T Ford car |
| James Earl Carter Jr. | a cart or wagon |
| Ronald Wilson Reagan | a ray-gun |
| George Herbert WalkerBush | a big bush |
| William Jefferson Clinton | a clean town |
| George Walker Bush | a little bush |
Now you have to learn the sequence of the names. To do this, you must link each visual image to the next one in a sequence, something that I call a phantasmagoria. Here is a phantasmagoria that works for me. As I find better images for the names of the presidents, I will replace them and revise this phantasmagoria. You may want to improve the list too, if you use it yourself. Silly visual images are usually based on personal interest and humor, and you can almost always make the best ones yourself.
George Washington chops down Adam's apple tree (not his famous cherry tree)
Adam is eating his apple with Jif peanut butter
Jif peanut butter ice cream, and a mad-about-ice-son wants it
The mad-ice-son puts his money in a row to buy ice cream
Money in a row is a queen's
A queen is lifting a car with a jack
A jack has lifted up a van burning.
Out of a van burning jumps a driver with wild hair
Wild hair is getting in the glue of a tiler, laying ceramic tiles
A tiler with his tiles is dancing a polka
Also dancing a polka is a taylor sewing clothes
A taylor surrounded by clothes is filmed by a filmer
While filming, a filmer is shot in the cheek by a piercing arrow
A piercing arrow is shot out of a book cannon
A book cannon shoots Lincoln, assassinating him
Dead, bloody Lincoln is washed in a handy john
In a handy john there is a handy US grand-piano
In the open grand piano there is a haystack
Eating the haystack is the cat Garfield
Garfield is playing chess, moving the king, which is King Arthur
Chess-king Arthur is king of Cleveland Ohio
In Cleveland is a bunch of hair
A bunch of hair is tied to look like clover
Clover is covering the summit of Mount McKinley
Down the slopes of Mt. McKinley comes a teddy bear
A teddy bear sleeps in a tuft of grass
On a tuft of grass is propped a Wilson-brand golf ball
A Wilson ball hits a bell, making a hard ding sound
A hard ding noise is made by the cool-edge of a knife
A cool-edge cuts the hose or bag of a Hoover vacuum cleaner
Wrapped around a Hoover vacuum is a rose-colored belt
A rose belt is embarassing to a True-man
A True-man takes an icy shower
While in an icy-shower, you eat candy
Candy is flushed down the toilet of a London john
In a London john, someone puts on knickers
A driver with old-fashioned knickers drives a Model-T Ford
A Model-T Ford is passed by a horse-drawn cart
A cart is blasted by a ray-gun
A ray-gun vaporizes a big bush
Big bushes are cleared away to make a clean town
In a clean town (with no big old bushes) a little bush grows
By closing your eyes and visualizing these images and silly links a few times, you can learn this phantasmagoria. If you have trouble remembering any of the images or links, it means that they are not visual or silly enough for you, and you should make a better image for yourself. This phantasmagoria will help you know the names of all the presidents in the correct order. You can begin at the beginning or at the end of the phantasmagoria, it doesn't matter. If you want to know who was the 24th president, for example, you must start at the beginning of the phanatsmagoria and count the names as you run through it.
The next goal is to learn the dates when each president began office. Here you need to know about pseudonumes, and how to pseudospell. (If you started reading this page without knowing about Pseudonumerology, you need to go back to the home page of this web site, and use a few minutes learning the pseudonumerals, and pseudospelling.) You memorize the date of each president's inauguration by "attaching" a pseudonume to the image in some logical way. This pseudonume is usually attached as a tattoo, a label, a tag, or a sign to each of the images.
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The pseudonumes are only for the last two digits of the inauguration date.
Since you know the order of the presidents from the phantasmagoria,
you can easily figure out if "29" is 1829 or 1929. You also know when
the term of office ended, by knowing who the next president was, and when his term began.
The pseudonumes used here are found in the Peewee
Web Pseudonumer®.
So here we go again, with more silly images. As you read this page, it seems
like a lot to keep track of, but there is no limit to the number of simple silly images
that you can remember. It is like walking five miles: it may seem overwhelming before you do
it, but if you have good shoes and know how to walk, it's no harder than taking one
solid step at time.
| Original information list | New list for silly image and PSEUDONUME for numbers to remember |
| Presidents name, date 0123 | How the PSEUDONUME is associated with the silly image |
| George Washington 1789-1797 | George did lie about his cherry tree: "FIB" (FB=FP=89) |
| John Adams 1797-1801 | Adam's tattoo: "PIG" (this was before Eve arrived in Eden) (PG=PK=97) |
| Thomas Jefferson 1801-1809 | Jif label: "SWEET." (ST=01) |
| James Madison 1809-1817 | a mad-ice-son's tattoo: "ICE BOY" (CB=SP=09) |
| James Monroe 1817-1825 | tempting row of money: "TAKE" (TK=17) |
| John Quincy Adams 1825-1829 | arrogant queen's motto: " I, ONLY" (NL=25) |
| Andrew Jackson 1829-1837 | car jack storage loop-label: "HANGUP" (NGP=NP=29) |
| Martin Van Buren 1837-1841 | burning van is Mack truck, with label: "MACK" (MK=37) |
| William Henry Harrison 1841 | the wild hair has a label that says "HAIRDO" |
| John Tyler 1841-1845 | a tiler's glue is called "READY" |
| James Knox Polk 1845-1849 | a polka dancer has a tattoo of a "HAIRY WHALE" |
| Zachary Taylor 1849-1850 | a taylor has a tattoo of a "RIP", a rope, or a harp |
| Millard Fillmore 1850-1853 | a filmer has a tattoo of "WHEELS" |
| Franklin Pierce 1853-1857 | a piercing arrow has a label that says "Remember the ALAMO" |
| James Buchanan 1857-1861 | the book cannon has a label with two eyes and the word "LOOK!" |
| Abraham Lincoln 1861-1865 | Lincoln has a tattoo of a bull's-eye that says "SHOOT" |
| Andrew Johnson 1865-1869 | a handy john has a sign that says "house JAIL" |
| Ulysses Simpson Grant 1869-1877 | a US Grand piano has a sale tag that says "CHEAP!" |
| Rutherford Birchard Hayes 1877-1881 | a haystack has a sign that says "KICK!" |
| James Abram Garfield 1881 | Garfield, the hungry cat, holds a sign that says "FOOD!" |
| Chester Alan Arthur 1881-1885 | chess-king Arthur has a tattoo of a "FOOT" |
| Grover Cleveland 1885-1889 | Cleveland Ohio roadsign: "FUEL UP 'M!" |
| Benjamin Harrison 1889-1893 | a bunch of hair has a label that says "OFF A HIPPIE" |
| Grover Cleveland 1893-1897 | Cleveland Ohio roadsign: "FUEL UP 'M!" |
| William McKinley 1897-1901 | Mount McKinley has a sign that says "to the PEAK" |
| Theodore Roosevelt 1901-1909 | a well-worn teddy bear has a label that says "USED" |
| William Howard Taft 1909-1913 | a tuft of grass has a label that says "SOUP" |
| Woodrow Wilson 1913-1921 | a Wilson-brand sports item has label that says "TEAM" |
| Warren Gamaliel Harding 1921-1923 | a hard-ding bell has a picture of a musical NOTE |
| Calvin Coolidge 1923-1929 | a cool edge knife has a label that says "ENEMY" |
| Herbert Clark Hoover 1929-1933 | a Hoover vacuum cleaner has a loop-label that says "HANG UP" |
| Franklin Delano Roosevelt 1933-1945 | FDR, or a rose belt, has a tattoo that says "MOM" |
| Harry S. Truman 1945-1953 | our True-man has a tattoo of a "HAIRY WHALE" |
| Dwight David Eisenhower 1953-1961 | a label on the icy shower faucet says "HELIUM" |
| John Fitzgerald Kennedy 1961-1963 | the name of the candy is "CHEW IT" |
| Lyndon Baines Johnson 1963-1969 | a Victorian sign in a London john says "SHAME!" |
| Richard Milhous Nixon 1969-1974 | a sales label on a pair of knickers says "CHEAP!" |
| Gerald Rudolph Ford 1974-1977 | a Model-T Ford has a label that says "CAR" |
| James Earl Carter, Jr. 1977-1981 | a cart has a label that says "KICK" |
| Ronald Wilson Reagan 1981-1989 | a Ray-gun has a label that says "VOID" |
| George Herbert Walker Bush 1989-1993 | a big bush has a sign that says "IVY UP" |
| William Jefferson Clinton 1993-2001 | a clean town has sign that says "WIPE ME" |
| George Walker Bush 2001- | a little bush has a sign that says "SEED" |
These are examples of how you change boring information into interesting images, and how you attach pseudonumes. What makes an interesting image for me may mean nothing to you, so you will probably have to adjust this list to use it yourself. But my real purpose here is to teach you this general technique. Try it, with information that you would like to remember. Don't forget the most important point – you have to make the information silly or fun, or you won't want to remember it, and you won't be able to remember it!