George Washington spends several hours on Thursday,…

George Washington spends several hours on Thursday, December 12, 1799, inspecting his plantation on horseback, in snow, hail and freezing rain—later that evening eating his supper without changing from his wet clothes.

That Friday he awakens with a severe sore throat (either quinsy or acute epiglottitis) and becomes increasingly hoarse as the day progresses.

Sometime around 3 a.m. that Saturday morning, he awakens his wife and says he feels ill.

Following common medical practice at the time, he is bled—initially by an employee and later again by physicians.

Washington dies at home around 10 p.m. on Saturday, December 14, 1799, aged sixty-seven.

The last words in his diary are "'Tis well."

Throughout the world, men and women are saddened by Washington's death.

Napoleon orders ten days of mourning throughout France; in the United States, thousands will wear mourning clothes for months.

To protect their privacy, Martha Washington burns the correspondence between her husband and her following his death.

Only a total of five letters between the couple are known to have survived, two letters from Martha to George and three from him to Martha.

On December 18, 1799, a funeral is held at Mount Vernon, where his body is interred.