30 Times Historical Figures Left Us Stunned

Many (in)famous figures in history have had twists and turns in their life that go criminally unnoticed by the general public. Some of the most iconic personalities unsuccessfully attempted suicide as youths, which makes them relatable to many and would have altered our timeline if they had succeeded. Other notable icons had unconventional family dynamics. And one American president could have had the United States loaded with elephants.

Let’s take a look at some interesting factoids about notable historical characters of our past that your history teacher neglected to tell you about…

30

Charles Maurice de Talleynad-Perigord made Napoleon his bitch. He was Napoleon's Minister of Foreign Relations, and he conspired with other countries to keep Napoleon in check. Although Napoleon fired him for treason, it was Talleyrand-Perigord who orchestrated Napoleon's return to power from exile, which led to his resounding defeat at Waterloo. CRACKED.COM /Charles-Maurice-de-Talleyrand-prince-de-Benevent — Source: 23 Amazing People Who Were Screwed Out of History Books

29

x Henri Poincare was the foremost expert on relativity in the late 19th century and was a most likely the first person to formally present the theory of 1200/11++ relativity Despite having read his work, Albert Einstein does not cite Poincare at all. CRACKED.COM — Source: 23 Amazing People Who Were Screwed Out of History Books

28

The power behind Alexander the Great was his mother Olympias. She ensured his claim to the throne by claiming his father was the god Zeus, and when Alexander was away (read: usually), she held tremendous power and frequently overruled the regent, Antipater. After. Alexander's death, she waged Creative wars and arranged Getty executions on behalf of her photo grandson. CRACKED.COM Arbttp://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/427989/Olymapias — Source: 23 Amazing People Who Were Screwed Out of History Books

27

Hans Lippershey is the inventor of the telescope. Lippershey, a Dutchman, applied for a patent in 1608. The Dutch government Hill refused his patent, and instead issued a report sharing his work. Galileo read the report and recreated Lippershey's telescope, but with stronger magnification. A year later he received the patent, and credit for inventing the telescope. GRACKED.COM history-of-the-microscope.org/hans-lippershey-invented-the-telescope.php — Source: 23 Amazing People Who Were Screwed Out of History Books

26

This is (pictured: : not Goebel's actual light bulb.) Heinrich Goebel, inventor of the light bulb. Goebel tried to sell his invention to this man, Thomas Edison. Edison turned him away, saying he saw no use in it. Soon after, Goebel died, and Edison bought the patent from Goebel's wife for a fraction of its value. CRACKED.COM http://www.gizmohighway.com/history/light bulb.htm — Source: 23 Amazing People Who Were Screwed Out of History Books

25

AMELIA EARHART WAS IN AN OPEN MARRIAGE. She didn't want to be tied down to one person and she didn't want her relationship to interfere with her work. CRACKED.COM — Source: 22 Bizarre, Unexpected Facts About Historical Figures

24

John Wilkes Booth's family was obsessed with the play Julius Caesar CRACK stup John's father and elder brother were both named Junius Brutus Booth after the play's hero. An 1864 production of Julius Caesar was also the only play to star all three of the famous Booth Brothers, months before one of them became an assassin in real life. — Source: 22 Bizarre, Unexpected Facts About Historical Figures

23

Nicola Tesla was a supporter of eugenics: a set of practices aiming to improve the genetic quality of human race. He thought that the only method was to prevent the breeding of the unfit by sterilization and the deliberate guidance of the mating instinct. CRACKED.COM — Source: 22 Bizarre, Unexpected Facts About Historical Figures

22

INSPIRATIONAL UNDERSEA EXPLORER AND FILMMAKER JACQUES COUSTEAU WAS SO FAMILY FRIENDLY THAT HE HAD TWO OF THEM. When Simone, Cousteau's wife of 50 years passed away, Cousteau revealed that he had a second family with Francis Triplet that included a boy and a girl. All together, Cousteau had two children with Simone and two children with Francis. CRACKED.COM — Source: 22 Bizarre, Unexpected Facts About Historical Figures

21

SAMUEL MORSE, INVENTOR OF THE TELEGRAPH, WAS AN ART SNOB WHO PAINTED A COPY OF THE MONA LISA. Before he invented the telegraph, American Samuel Morse was a painter who had trained at the Royal Academy of the Arts. Thinking that American tastes were unrefined, Morse painted a giant canvas- -Gallery at the Louvre- -to introduce his countrymen to famous European art, including the Mona Lisa. CRACKED.COM — Source: 22 Bizarre, Unexpected Facts About Historical Figures

20

NAPOLEON: LEADER, STATESMAN, ROMANCE NOVELIST? Before Josephine, before his conquest of Europe, a broken-hearted Napoleon wrote Clisson et Eugenie, a romance novella based on his doomed rela- tionship with Eugenie Desiree Clary. At the end of the novella, the hero dies tragically in battle, pierced by a thousand blows. CRACKED.COM — Source: 22 Bizarre, Unexpected Facts About Historical Figures

19

30 Times Historical Figures Left Us Stunned — Source: 22 Bizarre, Unexpected Facts About Historical Figures

18

THE PHILOSOPHER RENE DESCARTES WAS NO SPINELESS EGGHEAD One of the leading figures of the Enlightenment, Rene Descartes was a philosopher, scientist, and mathematician. He was also a highly trained swordsman who bested an opponent in a duel over a woman's honor. CRACKED.COM — Source: 22 Bizarre, Unexpected Facts About Historical Figures

17

Jean-Michel Basquiat and Madonna used to date After they broke up, he took back all his paintings and painted over them in black. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source: 14 Facts About Historical People (History Left Out)

16

JFK refused to let Sammy Davis Jr. perform at his inauguration because of Davis' interracial marriage Davis had campaigned for John F. Kennedy, but Kennedy was upset that Davis had married a white actress. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source: 14 Facts About Historical People (History Left Out)

15

The Beatles were all in their 20s when they broke up i WELCOME WDGY Ringo Starr was only 29-years-old, while George Harrison was a mere 27. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source: 14 Facts About Historical People (History Left Out)

14

Maya Angelou was the first Black streetcar conductor in San Francisco She was only sixteen when she staged a sit-in for weeks until she was allowed to apply for the job. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source: 14 Facts About Historical People (History Left Out)

13

Both Martin Luther King Jr. and Mohandas Gandhi attempted suicide as children. The famed leaders both suffered through severe bouts of depression later in life as well. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source: 14 Facts About Historical People (History Left Out)

12

In high school, Tupac played the Mouse King in the ballet Nutcracker. Tupac attended at the Baltimore School for the Arts. During his time there, he also wrote his first rap. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source: 14 Facts About Historical People (History Left Out)

11

There's no evidence Betsy Ross made the flag. The story originated with Ross's grandson William Canby's account. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source: 14 Facts About Historical People (History Left Out)

10

Frank Sinatra was offered the lead role of Die Hard The producers were contractually obligated to offer the role to the 70-year-old Sinatra because he starred in The Detective. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source: 14 Facts About Historical People (History Left Out)

9

Abraham Lincoln turned down the opportunity to populate the country with elephants. King Somdetch Phra Paramendr Maha Mongkut offered to send elephants for breeding NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source: 14 Facts About Historical People (History Left Out)

8

Harriet Tubman was the first American woman to lead a military assault. The Combahee Ferry Raid freed more than 700 slaves. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source: 14 Facts About Historical People (History Left Out)

7

Daniel Boone didn't actually wear his supposedly signature hat. Boone thought raccoon was not stylish and exclusively wore beaver hats. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source: 14 Facts About Historical People (History Left Out)

6

Joseph Stalin was the original Instagram troll. Munae pully in purline we He loved to write random crude comments, and other jokes directed at his Bolshevik comrades, on nude drawings. Like the one above that says Why are you thin, Mikhail Ivanovich? so Do some work. Onanism is not work. Try Marxism! (Onanism means masturbation.) CRACKED.COM — Source: 12 Famous Figures That Loved To Troll

5

During a hotel stay, Abraham Lincoln tricked a bunch of kids into tossing a pig's bladder into a fireplace for a prank. But his exploding bladder gag backfired when it set the room ablaze He quickly tried to pat the flames down with a broom ... which also caught fire. He was eventually able to put out the fire, preventing the hotel and his future presidential dreams from going up in smoke. CRACKED — Source: 12 Famous Figures That Loved To Troll

4

Hitchcock had a thing for inviting people he considered arrogant and pompous to dinner parties in order to drive them psycho. He would do things like line their seats with whoopee cushions, serve courses in the wrong order, and dye foods bizarre colors. He'd top it all off by serving super-strong booze to get them completely shitfaced. CRACKED.COM — Source: 12 Famous Figures That Loved To Troll

3

While attending Harvard, William Randolph Hearst would throw crazy political parties filled with wagons of beer, fireworks, and full brass bands. After getting placed on academic probation, he responded by sending chamber pots to each of his teachers with their photographs and names attached to the bottoms. He was expelled. CRACKEDO — Source: 12 Famous Figures That Loved To Troll

2

Singer Adriana Ferrarese del Bene had no idea what was coming her way when she made Amadeus Mozart's shit list. fundorn After noticing that Adriana sang high notes by raising her head all the way up, and low notes by dropping her chin to her chest, Mozart ended up composing an aria specifically to torment her. He filled her part with jumps constantly alternating from high to low, just so he could watch her head bob up and down like chicken. a CRACKED.COM — Source: 12 Famous Figures That Loved To Troll

1

Probably out of boredom of being great at, like, everything, Da Vinci decided to make his own dragon. He took lizard a and transformed it into a dragon by giving it horns, a beard, and even wings made out of the scales of other lizards. He'd keep the dragon in a box which he would bring out whenever he need to scare the hell out of his friends. CRACKED.COM — Source: 12 Famous Figures That Loved To Troll

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