Fifteen Things You Might Not Have Known About Mr. Rogers

1. He was colorblind (red-green)
2. There has been a rumor floating around for years that Mr. Rogers was (either) a Navy Seal, or a Marine sniper, with dozens of confirmed kills. These rumors are totally false
3. While a child, he spent most of his free time with his grandfather, who was a huge influence on him 
4. Mr. Roger’s parents adopted an African American teenager named George.  Rogers came to consider George his older brother, and George later became an instructor for the Tuskegee Airmen of World War II-- and also taught Rogers how to fly.
5. Mr. Rogers was an ordained Presbyterian minister in 1962. He was charged with continuing his work with TV and children. 
6. He first worked with NBC, but then decided that commercial television's reliance on advertisement and merchandising undermined its ability to benefit kids, so he quit.
7. Mr. Rogers first began to wear his sneakers because he found them quieter than his other work shoes when he was moving around the set during production.
8. The sweaters Mr. Roger wore on the show were hand knitted by his mother.
9. Mr. Rogers drove a used Chevy Impala.  Towards the end of his career, his car was stolen from the studio parking lot.  Word spread, and outrage swept the town. 48 hours later, the car was back in the spot where he had left it along with a note, “If we’d known it was yours, we never would have taken it!”
10. You can have a VCR thanks to Mr. Rogers. In contrast to most people in his industry, Mr. Rogers fought on BEHALF of VCR manufacturers in court-- arguing that he didn't object to families recording his show for later viewing at a more convenient time. The United States Supreme Court considered his testimony in its decision that the Betamax recorded did not infringe copyright (see below for a great quote from his testimony). The Home Recording Rights Coalition later stated that Rogers was "one of the most prominent witnesses on this issue."
11. When Mr. Rogers was at a speaking engagement, he would instruct the audience to remain silent for 60 seconds-- and to use that time of silence to remember those who helped them become who they are
12. Mr. Rogers was awarded 40 honorary degrees
13. Mr. Rogers show has the distinction of being the longest running program on PBS; it ran for 998 episodes
14. He was a vegetarian, swam every morning, and never smoke nor drank
15. There is a $3 million dollar statue to Mr. Rogers being unveiled on Mr. Rogers Day "Sweater Day" on March, 20th, 2008 in Pittsburgh (he was from Latrobe, Pennsylvania).

Here's Mr. Rogers' rather profound quote when testifying about private recording of shows:

"Some public stations, as well as commercial stations, program the "Neighborhood" at hours when some children cannot use it ... I have always felt that with the advent of all of this new technology that allows people to tape the "Neighborhood" off-the-air, and I'm speaking for the "Neighborhood" because that's what I produce, that they then become much more active in the programming of their family's television life. Very frankly, I am opposed to people being programmed by others. My whole approach in broadcasting has always been "You are an important person just the way you are. You can make healthy decisions." Maybe I'm going on too long, but I just feel that anything that allows a person to be more active in the control of his or her life, in a healthy way, is important"

RIP Mr. Rogers!

Credits:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Rogers

http://www.law.cornell.edu/copyright/cases/464_US_417.htm#464us417n27

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0736872/