Masonic Trivia

1. At one time, Golden Lodge #5, Stanstead, Canada occupied a lodge room which straddled the US and Canada border. There were entrances on both sides of the border.
2. Ben Franklin published the first Masonic book in America in 1734, a reprint of Anderson’s ‘Book of Constitutions.’
3. Brother “Buzz” Aldrin, a member of Clear Lake Lodge #1417 in Texas, when he stepped onto the surface of the moon, carried a special deputation from his Grand Master to claim the moon as being in the territorial jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Texas.
4. Charles Stratton, a.k.a. Tom Thumb, was 24 inches high and weighed 16 pounds when raised in 1862.
5. Frederick A Bartholdi, a freemason, designed the statue of Liberty in NY Harbor. Grand Lodge of NY laid the corner stone on Aug 5, 1885.
6. In 1860 in Limerick, Ireland, there was found in a small chapel a stone dated 1517 with the following inscription: “I will serve to live with love & care, upon the level, by the square.”
7. In 1892 the world’s tallest building was the Masonic Temple at Randolph and State Streets in Chicago.
8. In 1920, Gate City Lodge #522 in Kansas City MO met every day of the week except Sunday to confer a record 1,107 degrees, averaging 21 degrees a week.
9. In 1952, eighty-nine percent of the U.S. Supreme Court Justices were Freemasons.
10. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan (not a Mason) was awarded honorary membership in the Scottish Rite Bodies and in the Shrine. Masonic Jurisprudence did not and does not condone these actions! Only Master Masons may hold membership in any Appendant body.
11. On his famous solo flight across the Atlantic, Charles Lindbergh wore a square and compasses on his jacket as a good luck piece. He was a mason.
12. President Ford was a Mason. He received his York Rite Degrees in the Oval Office.
13. Sam Rayburn, Speaker of the US House took his first degree on August 7, 1922. He died in 1961 without receiving the second.
14. The Baltimore Convention in 1840 moved all Lodge business from the first to the third degree. Most all Lodge business elsewhere throughout the world is conducted in the first degree.
15. The Commissioner of Patents In 1872 ruled that the Masonic Square and Compasses emblem could not be used in any trademark or trade name for commercial purposes.
16. The examination of a candidate for proficiency in the previous degree was first introduced in 1850 in Louisiana.
17. The first registered livestock brand in Montana was the Square and Compasses dating back to before May 25, 1872 when brands were first registered. It is still in use today.
18. The Masonic (Square and Compasses) ring is not an official item of Masonic Jewelry. General consensus seems to be that if the wearer wishes to advise others that he is a Master Mason, then he should wear the ring with the Compasses points toward the fingertips. If the ring is worn to remind the wearer that he is a Master Mason, then he should wear it with the compasses points toward the wrist.
19. The two structures in the U.S. that have elevators which move sideways, in addition to up and down are the Arch in St. Louis and the George Washington Masonic Memorial in Alexandria.
20. Washington Chapter #3 of Portsmouth, NH announced its meetings via the town crier, who received from 6 to 25 cents for his work.
21. When Brothers Richard E. Byrd and Bernt Balchen first flew over the North and South Poles, they dropped a Masonic flag on each Pole. Then, in the 1933-35 expedition, Brother Balchen tossed his Shrine Fez on the North Pole.
22. In July 1863, Confederate raiders rode into Versailles, IN capturing the local militia and stealing the county treasury. The next day, General John Morgan (CSA), learned that his men had also made off with the jewels of the local lodge. There were returned the following day. Morgan was from Daviess Lodge #22, Lexington, KY.
23. Dr. Edward Jenner, in 1789 discovered the vaccination process against smallpox. At the time, he was the Worshipful Master of the Faith and Friendship Lodge #270 in Berkeley, England.
24. In 1860 in Limerick, Ireland, there was found in a small chapel a stone dated 1517 with the following inscription: "I will serve to live with love & care, Upon the level, by the square."
25. Lux in Tenebris Lodge # 3856 in London is for blind Masons.  The Latin words mean "Light in Darkness."
26. The examination of a candidate for proficiency in the previous degree was first introduced in 1850 in Louisiana.
27. Massachusetts lodges have no numbers.  Pennsylvania has eleven lodges with numbers but no names.  Georgia has two lodges identified as number 1, Social #1 and Solomons #1.  Neither Maryland, Pennsylvania, or Tennessee has a lodge with the number 1. 
28. For more than 138 years, the Lodge St. George of Bermuda has paid Bermuda's Governor "one peppercorn" as annual rent of the old state house. 
29. On April 22, 2002, Masonic Lodges in Ohio initiated, passed, and raised a total of 7,734 Masons in a one-day-class.  Of these, 4,956 witnessed only the 32nd degree of the Scottish Rite but became full-fledged Scottish Rite Masons the same day.  550 of the 570 Lodges in the state participated in this event. 

Collected from various websites