12 Historical Figures Who Looked Differently Than We Think
![12 Historical Figures Who Looked Differently Than We Think](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/4/3/808343_320x180.jpg)
You're not gonna believe this, but they didn't have camera phones in olden and ancient times. Heck, their didn't even have those cumbersome big ol' joints with the huge curtains that photographers hid under while they pressed a button. You know, like the ones you see in movies with carnivals and stuff? Hey, speaking of movies, that's where we get a lot of our images of historical figures. Movies, black-and-white photos, paintings, whatever Disney decides history is…that's how we form our mental pictures.
Bummer of all bummers, your mental image of historical figures may not be up-to-date. All that stuff we mentioned can be a little misleading, as it turns out. History looks downright unfamiliar sometimes—even taking a time machine just to look around would mess with your head so much you might not recover. Here are 12 people from history we might not recognize if they walked up and introduce themselves.
![George Washington had red hair Surprisingly, he didn't wear a wig, but he did powder his (real, red) hair as was the fashion at the time. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/6/7/808267.jpg)
Source: Mount Vernon
![This was what Mark Twain was hiding under that 'stache It wasn't until middle age that he grew into the Colonel Sanders lookalike we all know. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/0/9/808309.jpg)
More: Historical Figures (Who Looked Waaaay Different Than You Think)
![St. Nick had a crooked nose From studying the remains of the man behind Santa Claus, researchers know jolly ol' St. Nick had a badly broken nose that healed asymmetrically. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/6/9/808269.jpg)
Source: BBC
![We don't really know what Shakespeare looked like There no conclusive proof that Shakespeare was the sitter for the portrait on the left. Most historians believe the etching (right, made seven years after his death) was based off a painting of him that no longer exists. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/6/8/808268.jpg)
Source: Mental Floss
![Pocahontas probably had a shaved head IM The child's real name was Matoaka, and she probably had her head shaved completely bald and didn't wear clothes, as was tradition with prepubescent girls within her tribe. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/6/5/808265.jpg)
![Malcom X had red hair The human rights activist had red hair when he was younger, which earned him the nickname Detroit Red. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/6/4/808264.jpg)
Source: Stanford
![Abraham Lincoln was considered unattractive Houston Telegraph described Lincoln as, the leanest, lankiest, most ungainly mass of legs, arms, and hatchet face ever strung upon a single frame. In a debate when he was accused of being two-faced, he said, If I had another face, do you think I would wear this one? CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/6/6/808266.jpg)
Source: Irish Times
![Jesus probably had short hair It would have been very unusual if he had long hair. Не probably had a slight beard and often wore a a knee-length tunic with something similar to a wrap. (It would have been feminine to wear a longer tunic for the time.) CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/6/1/808261.jpg)
Source: BBC
![Thomas Jefferson was a redhead Jefferson wore hair powder and owned wigs so it might not have been as obviious that the third president of the United States was a ginger. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/6/2/808262.jpg)
Source: Monticello
![Elvis was a natural blonde Не dyed his hair black because he believed it brought out his features better on film. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/6/0/808260.jpg)
Source: Graceland
![Cleopatra wasn't known for her beauty She was attractive for her inbred family, but, by her time's standards, she wasn't known as a looker. However, she was known for seducing any person by using her intellect and charsima. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/5/9/808259.jpg)
![The Buddha was somber and of average body type The image a lot of people have is of the round-bellied The Laughing Buddha/Budai, an eccentric Chinese monk known as a symbol for happiness. Siddhartha Gautama, however, was big on moderation. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/6/3/808263.jpg)