The existence of George Washington does not violate any observable facts that we find today. All the evidence we have points to his existence. There are not just a few newspaper articles, journals etc. Sure, it's possible - but based on the evidence it is not probable. The claim that God exists, on the other hand, does not have any evidence to support it.
Faith is faith.
If anything raising the burden of proof will benefit us all. But the claim that Peking exists is a testable claim. Again, here, there is no reason to rely on faith - never mind the fact that the claim is relatively inconsequential. Or have you merely accepted it. If you say yes then I maintain that your threshold for faith is just higher than mune but it is still faith.