betsy ross designed and sewed the first american flag at the request of george washington, right? wrong. our flag was designed by francis hopkinson, a member of the continental congress; we even have a copy of his bill for the work.

the story of betsy ross as the first american flag-maker was a story told by her grandson almost 100 years after the fact, and even he heard it second-hand. there are no records to show that ross ever even met washington, who last visited the area a whole year before the continental congress approved the idea of creating a single national flag.

betsy ross (born elizabeth griscom) was apparently very beautiful. she had 3 husbands, each of whom died in fairly terrible ways, and there is a long-standing rumor that she distracted carl von donop from having his forces join the battle of trenton.