John Hanson (April 3, 1715 - November 22, 1783) was a delegate to the United States in Congress Assembled from Maryland. Because he was the first President of Congress from Maryland to serve under a fully ratified Articles of Confederation (Maryland did not complete the process and sign until March 1, 1781), John Hanson has been mistakenly called the First President of the United States in Congress Assembled. He did serve a full one-year term, November 5, 1781 to November 4, 1782, as President of the United States in Congress Assembled under the Articles of Confederation, but Samuel Huntington was the first President under the fully ratified Articles, serving March 1, 1781 to July 6, 1781 while Thomas McKean was the second, serving from July 10, 1781 to November 5, 1781.
Hanson is one of the most enigmatic figures in US history. He is frequently mentioned in connection with the claim that he was the first President, but fewer facts are clear about his life and accomplishments than is the case with most of his contemporaries. One of the difficulties this caused was that several writers in the 19th century filled in the blanks with fiction. This article presents only those aspects of the man and his character that are either clearly documented or almost universally agreed upon. For various reasons, Hanson has been the subject of a large number of misconceptions or misrepresentations.
John Hanson is a British popular tenor and composer. He appeared in several 1950s national preselection events for the Eurovision Song Contest.
John Hanson is an American cinematographer and movie director. His short documentary Northern Lights won the Camera d'Or award at the Cannes Film Festival of 1979.
John Hanson (August 31,1922 - December 3, 1998) was a Canadian singer and actor who starred in several West End musicals during the 1950s and 1960s.
He was most famous for his role as the "Red Shadow", the hero of the musical The Desert Song, which enjoyed a record-breaking revival at the Drury Lane Theatre in 1967.
John Hanson was a 19th century Liberian Senator from Grand Bassa County who was involved in efforts to relocate African Americans to Liberia. There is sometimes some confusion between him and John Hanson, the President of the United States Continental Congress, and some of those who claim John Hanson to have been the first President of the United States also hold that the American Hanson was black.
