1. Napoleon was 26 years old when he captured Italy.
2. Baghdad University awarded Uday, the eldest son of Saddam Hussein, academic degree the doctors political sciences. Although he did not even have a secondary education. His dissertation was titled “The Decline of American Power by 2016.”
3. In 1938, Time magazine named Hitler “Man of the Year.”
4. While serving in the KGB, Vladimir Putin had the nickname “Mol.”
5. Hitler was a vegetarian.
6. Egyptian queen Cleopatra tested the effectiveness of her poisons by forcing her slaves to take them.
7. Cleopatra married her brother, Ptolemy.
8. Cleopatra was not Egyptian. She had Macedonian, Iranian and Greek roots.
9. Lafayette became a general in the US Army at age 19. His full name sounds like this: Maria Joseph Paul Yves Rocher Gilbert de Motier, Marquis de Lafayette.
10. The Minister of Culture of the RSFSR in the 50s, Alexei Popov, was a famous swearer.
11. The Mongol conqueror Timur (1336-1405) played something like polo with the skulls of the people he killed. He created a pyramid of their severed heads 9 meters high.
12. At the time of Lenin's death, his brain was only a quarter of its normal size.
13. Napoleon was born not in France, but on the Mediterranean island of Corsica. His parents were Italian and they had eight children.
14. The national flag of Italy was invented by Napoleon.
15. One of Napoleon's drinking cups was made from the skull of the famous Italian adventurer Cagliostro.
16. The founder of the theory of communism, Karl Marx, never visited Russia.
17. The first American Chief Justice, John Jay, bought slaves to free them.
18. The first person in history to be hit by a train was Member of the British Parliament William Haskinson.
19. Winston Churchill's maternal ancestors were... Indians.
20. US President Andrew Jackson believed that the Earth was flat.
21. During the reign of Elizabeth I there was a tax on men's beards. However, Peter the Great did not favor bearded men either.
22. Queen Ranavalona of Madagascar ordered the execution of her subjects if they appeared to her in dreams without her permission.
23. At her wedding, Queen Victoria was given a piece of cheese with a diameter of 3 meters and weighing 500 kilograms.
24. King of England Henry VIII executed two of his six wives.
25. The President of Uganda and one of the most ruthless dictators in the world, Idi Amin, served in British Army.
26. British Prime Minister Lord Palmerston died in 1865 on a billiard table, on which he made love to his servants.
27. At the court of King Alfonso of Spain, there was a special position - a gymnast. The fact is that the king had no ear for music at all, and he himself could not distinguish the anthem from other music. The anthem leader had to warn the king when the national anthem was played.
28. The Roman emperor Nero married a man - one of his slaves named Scorus.
29. The Roman Emperor Nero forced his teacher, the philosopher Seneca, to commit suicide.
30. The height of Peter the Great was approximately 213 cm. Despite the fact that in those days the average height of men was significantly lower than today.
31. Sir Winston Churchill smoked no more than 15 cigars a day.
32. Tom Cruise entered seminary at age 14 to become a priest, but dropped out after a year.
33. At the French king's Louis XIV there were 413 beds.
34. The Israeli king Solomon had approximately 700 wives and several thousand mistresses.
35. King Louis XIV of France, known as the “Sun King,” had over 400 beds.
36. Napoleon had ailurophobia - fear of cats.
37. Winston Churchill was born in the women's toilet of the Blenheim family castle. During the ball, his mother felt unwell and soon gave birth.
38. Physicist and owner Nobel Prize Niels Bohr and his brother, the famous mathematician Harald Bohr, were football players. Harald was a member of the Danish national team and even took second place at the 1905 Olympics.
39. The phrase “The King is dead, long live the King” was uttered by Catherine de Medici when she learned of the death of her son Charles IX.
40. Swedish King Charles VII, killed in 1167, was the first king of a state named Charles! Charles I, II, III, IV, V and VI never existed, and it is unclear where he got the prefix “seventh”. And after a couple of centuries, King Charles VIII (1448-1457) appeared in Sweden.
41. Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes stories, was an ophthalmologist by profession.
42. Attila the Barbarian died in 453 on his wedding night immediately after the wedding.
43. Beethoven always brewed coffee from 64 beans.
44. Britain's Queen Victoria (1819-1901), who ruled Britain for 64 years, spoke English with an accent. She had German roots.
45. In 1357, a dead woman was crowned Queen of Portugal. She became Princess Ines de Castro, the second wife of Pedro I. 2 years earlier, her father-in-law, Alfonso “The Proud,” who hated her for being a commoner, secretly ordered his men to kill her and her children. When Pedro became king, he ordered Ines's body to be removed from the grave and forced the nobility to recognize her as Queen of Portugal.
46. In 1849, Senator David Atchison became President of the United States for only 1 day, and most this day he... overslept.
47. The Grand Vizier of Persia Abdul Kassim Ismail (who lived in the 10th century) never parted with his library. If he went somewhere, the library “followed” him. 117 thousand book volumes were transported by 400 camels. Moreover, the books (together with camels) were located in alphabetical order.
48. The great Genghis Khan died while having sex.
49. Hannibal died in 183 BC. e. taking poison when he learned that the Romans had come to kill him.
50. Hans Christian Andersen could not write almost a single word without errors.
51. Henry IV often flogged his son, the future Louis XIII.
52. Danish king Frederick IV was a bigamist. He married twice while his wife Queen Louise was alive. His first lover died during childbirth, his second mistress was queen for only 19 days after the death of Queen Louise. All the children from both of his mistresses either died at birth or in infancy, as he believed for his sinful life. Later he became extremely religious.
53. Jack the Ripper, the most famous murderer of the 19th century, always committed his crimes on weekends.
54. Dr. Alice Chace, who wrote the book “ Healthy eating"and many books about proper nutrition, died of malnutrition.
55. Once the merchant Krasnobryukhov turned to Alexander I with a request to change his surname, and he allowed him to be called... Sinebryukhov. After this, the merchant, out of grief, left for Finland and founded the famous Koff brewing company there.
56. When Russian Queen Elizabeth I died in 1762, more than 15,000 dresses were discovered in her wardrobe.
57. Mozart began composing music at age 3.
58. There is not a single living descendant of William Shakespeare left on Earth.
59. Before composing music, Beethoven poured a bucket on his head cold water, believing that it stimulates the brain.
60. While developing the electric light bulb, Thomas Edison wrote 40 thousand pages.
61. “Dream in summer night” Felix Mendelssohn wrote at the age of 17. This became his most famous work.
62. Beria suffered from syphilis.
63. More than 100 descendants of Johann Sebastian Bach became organists.
64. In the group ZZ Top, only one member does not have a beard. And his name is Beard, which translated from English means... “beard”.
65. Since 1932, only Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush have not been elected to a second term as president.
66. Ilf and Petrov discarded ideas that came to both of their minds at once - in order to avoid cliches.
67. When Beethoven wrote the famous Ninth Symphony, he was completely deaf.
68. Composer Franz Liszt was the father-in-law of German composer Richard Wagner.
69. Paul McCartney's mother was a midwife.
70. The writer Rudyard Kipling could not write with ink unless it was black.
71. The writer Charles Dickens worked with his face turned to the north. He also always slept with his head facing north.
72. The Roman Emperor Commodus collected dwarfs, cripples and freaks from all over the Roman Empire to arrange fights between them in the Colosseum.
73. Roman Emperor Julius Caesar wore Laurel wreath on the head to hide the increasing bald spot.
74. Russian composer Alexander Borodin was also a famous chemist in St. Petersburg.
75. The smallest American president is James Madison (1.62 m), and Abraham Lincoln is the tallest (1.93 m).
76. The shortest British monarch is Charles I. His height was 4 feet 9 inches (approximately 140 cm). After his head was cut off, his height became even smaller.
77. The body of Voltaire, who died in 1778, was stolen from his grave and was never found. The loss was discovered in 1864.
78. Balzac has a whole book dedicated to... a tie.
79. The British Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) had about 3,000 outfits.
80. American Pete Ruff knocks an apple off his own head with a boomerang.
81. American industrial magnate and billionaire John Rockefeller donated more than $550 million. to various foundations and institutions.
82. American President Benjamin Franklin advocated for the turkey to be America's national bird.
83. In 1856, the English chemist William Perkin, while trying to obtain quinine from aniline, invented the first artificial dye, mauvais.
84. In the village of Lobovskoye, Saratov region. There lives a beekeeper who can withstand 40 hours in a hive with bees completely naked.
85. Between 1952 and 1966, 5 children were born into the family of Ralph and Carolyn Cummins and all of them had a birthday on February 20th.
86. Galileo Galilei was the first person to propose the use of a pendulum to measure time.
87. Hannibal died in 183 BC after taking poison when he learned that the Romans had come to kill him.
88. Grover Cleveland was the only US president to get married in the White House.
89. James Madison was the smallest American president (1.62 m), and Abraham Lincoln was the tallest (1.93 m).
90. Dr. Alice Chace, who wrote the book Healthy Eating and many books about proper nutrition, died of malnutrition.
91. Over 35 years, Mozart created over 600 works. But after his death, the widow did not have money for a separate place in the cemetery
92. Famous bull fighter of the 19th century. Lagarijo (born Rafael Molina) killed 4,867 bulls.
93. When he died German physicist A. Einstein, his last words went with him. Nurse, ex nearby, did not understand German.
94. The maximum number of crossword puzzles was created by Andrian Bell. From January 1930 to 1980, he sent 4,520 crossword puzzles to The Times.
95. Robert Lincoln, son of President Lincoln, was rescued from a traffic accident by a certain Edwin Booth. As it turns out, Edwin is the brother of Abraham Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth. Father tried to kill father, and their children saved each other
96. First American President The person using the phone was James Garfield.
97. Concept a negative number was first introduced by the Italian merchant Pisano in 1202, denoting his debts and losses.
98. The world's largest private collection of meteorites belongs to the American Robert Haag - from the age of 12 he collected 2 tons of celestial stones.
99. Thomas Edison had a bird collection of 5,000 specimens.
100. The French Jeanne Louise and Guy Bruti compiled a crossword puzzle on a sheet of paper 5 m long and 3 m wide, from 18 thousand words and 50 thousand cells.
101. Shakespeare mentioned roses more than 50 times in his poems.
102. Andrew Johnson, 17th President of the United States, was the only president to sew his own clothes.
103. Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin were born on the same day - February 12, 1809. The scientist lived almost 20 years longer than the politician.
104. Bill Clinton sent as many as two emails during his entire presidency, one of which was a test email to check that everything was working fine. I wonder who the second letter was to? Maybe Monica?
105. In 1759, Arthur Guinness leased St Gate's Brewery for 9,000 years at a rent of £45 per annum. The famous Guinness beer began to be brewed there.
106. In 1981, Deborah Ann Fountain, Ms. NY, was disqualified for excessive use of cotton padding in a swimsuit competition
107. George Washington did not shake hands when meeting - he preferred to bow
108. The only US president who is also the chairman of a union is Ronald Reagan, who heads the Screen Actors Guild.
109. If you remember a little about your school physics course, you know that there is a Richter temperature scale. So this same Charles Richter was a malicious nudist, because of which his wife left him
110. If you read the works of the writer Stephen King, you should notice that most of the actions of his stories take place in Maine. Paradoxically, this state has the lowest crime rate in the United States.
111. The founder of psychoanalysis has many oddities. Freud was terrified of the number 62. He refused to reserve a hotel room with more than 62 rooms for fear of accidentally getting a room with number 62. He used cocaine, like many of his contemporaries.
112. The famous entrepreneur Henry Ford preferred to hire people with physical disabilities - among the workers of his factories in 1919, there was one disabled person for every four healthy people.
113. Louis Pasteur's research was sponsored by a brewery. They also paid for his ticket to international congress. When Pasteur was given the floor at the congress, the first thing he did was hang advertising posters with beer on the stage. And he began his speech by saying that this beer is the best. And only then did he get down to business.
114. Madonna and Celine Dion are cousins of Prince Charles's wife, Camilla
115. The father of the famous comedian Leslie Nielsen (“The Naked Gun”, etc.) served as a police officer in Canada, and his brother worked in the Canadian Parliament
116. Tennis player Andre Agassi's father represented Iran at the 1948 and 1952 Olympics. He was... a boxer
IN Once again we want to invite you to combine business with pleasure and learn a lot of new and interesting things during breaks caused by the most for various reasons. Fill the forced waiting time easy reading and at the same time information useful for broadening your horizons. This time we bring to your attention the most incredible and little known facts from world history. Thanks to its convenient design, the book can be used in almost any environment.
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The given introductory fragment of the book Essential Reading. 1000 new interesting facts for the mind and entertainment (E. Mirochnik, 2014) provided by our book partner - the company liters.
Chapter 2. Incredible facts from the lives of great people
Great Losers
Beethoven's teacher considered him a completely untalented student. The great composer never mastered this until the end of his life. mathematical operation, like multiplication.
Darwin, who abandoned medicine, was bitterly reproached by his father: “You are not interested in anything except catching dogs and rats!”
Walt Disney was fired from the newspaper due to a lack of ideas.
Edison's mentor said about him that he was stupid and could not learn anything.
Einstein did not speak until he was four years old. His teacher described him as mentally retarded.
The father of Rodin, the great sculptor, said: “My son is an idiot. He failed to get into art school three times.”
Mozart, one of the most brilliant composers, was told by Emperor Ferdinand that his “Marriage of Figaro” had “too little noise and too many notes.”
Our compatriot Mendeleev had a C in chemistry.
When we look at Ford cars, we think that their creator, Henry Ford, was always rich, successful businessman. We see this a huge empire, which has been living for more than a hundred years. But few of us know that before achieving financial success, Ford declared himself bankrupt several times and went completely bankrupt - the man who changed the course of history by putting the world on wheels.
Henry Ford never had a driver's license.
When Guglielmo Marconi invented the radio and told his friends that he would transmit words over a distance through the air, they thought he was crazy and took him to a psychiatrist. But within a few months his radio saved the lives of many sailors.
Nikolai Gogol, oddly enough, wrote rather mediocre essays at school. He achieved some success only in Russian literature and drawing. In addition, Nikolai Vasilyevich was an extremely shy person: for example, if a stranger appeared in the company, Gogol simply quietly left the room.
The great silent film actor Charlie Chaplin learned to read much later than he received his first theater role. He was terribly afraid that someone would discover his illiteracy, so he in every possible way avoided situations where he could be forced to read excerpts from the role.
The outstanding politician Winston Churchill was an excellent orator. But as a child he stuttered and had a lisp, and only thanks to to a good speech therapist speech defects were corrected.
Besides, Churchill literally hated school. He was worst student in class and often received blows from teachers. When the father noticed that his son was interested in toy soldiers, he suggested that he enroll in military academy. Churchill entered there... on the third attempt.
The famous storyteller Hans Christian Andersen wrote with grammatical and spelling errors. He had particular difficulties with punctuation marks. Therefore, a lot of money was spent on paying for the work of people who rewrote his works before they went to the publishing house.
Alexander Pushkin, as we know, was a graduate of the Lyceum. But he got into it through connections - his uncle placed him there. And so, when the lists of graduates were prepared for the graduation ceremony, Pushkin was listed second in his academic performance... from the bottom.
Author of the law universal gravity Isaac Newton was a member of the House of Lords. We must give him his due - he attended all the meetings of the chamber regularly, but for many years he did not utter a word there. And then one day he nevertheless asked to be given the opportunity to speak. Everyone literally froze, waiting for the significant speech of the great scientist. And in absolute silence Newton said: “Gentlemen! I ask you to close the window, otherwise I might catch a cold!” That's all! This was his only performance.
The university graduation certificate of the German philosopher Georg Hegel stated: “A young man with sound judgment, but was not distinguished by eloquence and did not show himself in any way in philosophy.”
Little is known about the biography of Sylvester Stallone by a wide range of viewers who admire their favorite hero on the screen, and meanwhile the future action star was known at the school where he studied as a real bandit! His teachers unanimously insisted that Stallone would definitely kill someone and end his life in prison, with a life sentence or be executed! Probably for this reason, young Sylvester changed several schools every year, which eventually totaled 15!
Colombian singer Shakira was kicked out of her school choir at age 10 because her teacher didn’t like her voice. Then she practically abandoned the dream of a musical career.
A woman with outstanding forms, singer and actress Jennifer Lopez, at one time, simply could not pass the very first selection in her life for filming in a television commercial. The fact is that the experts who assessed the candidates for the role of the girl who will advertise the jeans unanimously declared that Lopez simply would not fit into them.
The strangest actions and habits of great people
The 16th-century astronomer Tycho Brahe, whose research helped Sir Isaac Newton create the theory of universal gravitation, died an untimely farewell due to the fact that he did not visit the toilet on time. In those days, leaving the table before the end of the feast meant causing a grave insult to the owner of the house. Being a polite man, Brahe did not dare ask permission to leave the table. His bladder burst, and after suffering for 11 days, the astronomer died.
Jean-Baptiste Lully, a 17th-century composer who wrote music commissioned by the French king, died from excess dedication to his work. Once, during a rehearsal for another concert, he got so excited that, hitting his cane on the floor, he pierced his own leg and died from blood poisoning.
The great illusionist Harry Houdini died after a fan punched him in the stomach. Houdini allowed people to hit him, demonstrating the wonders of an impenetrable abs. He died in hospital from internal injuries.
The twelfth President of the United States, Zachary Taylor, ate too much ice cream after a ceremony on a particularly hot day on July 4, 1850, suffered from indigestion and died five days later, having been president for only 16 months.
Jack Daniel, the father of the famous Jack Daniel's whiskey, died of blood poisoning after suffering a leg injury: he broke his finger kicking his safe, to which he forgot the combination.
Vincent van Gogh painted for days, drank buckets of absinthe, cut off his left ear and painted a self-portrait in this form, and at the age of 37 he committed suicide. After his death, by the way, doctors published over 150 medical diagnoses that were given to the great painter during his lifetime.
While working, Gustave Flaubert moaned along with the characters he portrayed, cried and laughed, big steps walked quickly around the office and loudly chanted words.
Honore de Balzac was afraid of getting married more than anything else in the world. Long years he was in love with Countess Evelina Ganskaya. Balzac resisted for another eight years, but still the Countess insisted on the wedding. The writer fell ill from fear and even wrote to his fiancée: they say, my health is such that you would rather accompany me to the cemetery than have time to try on my name. But the wedding took place. True, Honore was taken down the aisle in a chair, since he himself could not go.
The French artist Henri Matisse, before starting to paint, felt a strong desire to strangle someone.
Voltaire drank up to 50 cups of coffee a day.
Ivan Krylov had an inexplicable mania: he loved to look at fires and tried not to miss a single fire in St. Petersburg.
When the blues attacked Ivan Turgenev, he put a high cap on his head and put himself in a corner. And he stood there until the melancholy passed.
Anton Chekhov loved to talk unusual compliments: “dog”, “actress”, “snake”, “crocodile of my soul”.
William Burroughs wanted to surprise the guests at one of the parties. The writer planned to repeat the act of the archer William Tell, who hit an apple standing on the head of his own son. Burroughs placed a glass on his wife Joan Vollmer's head and fired the gun. The wife died from a bullet in the head.
Ivan the Terrible personally rang the bells at the main belfry of the Alexandrovskaya Sloboda in the mornings and evenings. Thus, they say, he tried to drown out mental suffering.
Lord Byron became extremely irritated at the sight of a salt shaker.
Charles Dickens always washed down every 50 lines of what he wrote with a sip of hot water.
Johannes Brahms constantly polished his shoes unnecessarily “for inspiration.”
Isaac Newton once cooked pocket watch holding an egg in his hands and looking at it.
Ludwig van Beethoven always went unshaven, believing that shaving hindered creative inspiration. And before sitting down to write music, the composer poured a bucket of cold water on his head: this, in his opinion, was supposed to greatly stimulate brain function.
Alexander Pushkin loved to shoot in the bathhouse. They say that in the village of Mikhailovskoye almost nothing authentic from the time of the poet has been really preserved, but the wall that Pushkin shot at surprisingly remained intact.
Fyodor Dostoevsky could not work without strong tea. When he wrote his novels at night, on his desk There was always a glass of tea, and a samovar was always kept hot in the dining room.
Johann Goethe worked only in a hermetically sealed room, without the slightest access to fresh air.
Commander Alexander Suvorov was famous for his strange antics: his unusual daily routine - he went to bed at six o'clock in the evening and woke up at two o'clock in the morning, his unusual awakening - he wet himself cold water and loudly shouted “ku-ka-re-ku!”, an unusual bed for a commander - with all ranks, he slept on hay. Preferring to wear old boots, he could easily go out to meet high officials in a sleeping cap and underwear.
He also gave the signal for the attack to his loved ones “ku-ka-re-ku!”, and, they say, after he was promoted to field marshal, he began jumping over chairs and saying: “And I jumped over this one, and over that one.” That!"
Suvorov was very fond of marrying his serfs, guided by a very peculiar principle - he lined them up in a row, selected those suitable in height, and then married 20 couples at a time.
Emperor Nicholas I did not like music and, as a punishment for officers, gave them a choice between the guardhouse and listening to Glinka's operas.
Emperor Nicholas I ordered that portraits of his ancestors be hung in the toilet. The Tsar Father justified his action by the fact that Hard time he is pleased to feel the support of his relatives. In addition, Nikolai Pavlovich moved his library to the outhouse.
Arthur Schopenhauer was famous for his excellent appetite and ate for two; if anyone made a remark to him on this score, he replied that he thought for both.
It was his custom to pay for two seats so that no one could join him at the table.
At dinner, he used to talk loudly to his poodle Atman and at the same time addressed him every time as “you” and “sir” if he behaved well, and “you” and “man” if he was the master of something upset.
Sigmund Freud hated music. He threw away his sister's piano and did not visit restaurants with an orchestra.
French writer Guy de Maupassant was one of those who was irritated by the Eiffel Tower. Nevertheless, he dined at her restaurant every day, explaining that this was the only place in Paris from where the tower was not visible.
Hunter Thompson, before filming the film adaptation of his novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, came to film set. The role of Raoul Duke was played by Johnny Depp. The writer, being able alcohol intoxication, personally cut the movie star’s hair, creating a huge bald spot on Depp’s head.
The third President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, designed his own tombstone and wrote a text for it that did not indicate that he was president.
The sixteenth President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, always wore a tall black top hat on his head, inside which he kept letters, financial papers, bills and notes.
Chinese state and political figure 20th century Mao Zedong never brushed his teeth. And when he said that it was unhygienic, he replied: “Have you ever seen a tiger brush his teeth?”
English footballer David Beckham can't stand clutter. The objects surrounding it must be carefully selected in color, shape and size, and their number must be a multiple of two.
Funny incidents from the lives of famous people
One day Albert Einstein was riding a tram in Leipzig. And on this very tram there was a conductor. The conductor approached the physicist and asked him to pay the fare. Einstein quite calmly counted out the required amount and handed it to the conductor. He counted the money and said that another 5 pfennigs were missing.
- I counted carefully! This can't be true! - Einstein objected.
Galileo Galilei spent his wedding night reading a book. Noticing that it was already dawn, he went to the bedroom, but immediately came out and asked the servant: “Who is lying in my bed?” “Your wife, sir,” answered the servant. Galileo completely forgot that he got married.
Once Voltaire was invited to dinner party. When everyone was seated, it turned out that the maestro found himself between two grumpy gentlemen. Having drunk well, Voltaire’s neighbors began to argue about how to properly address the servants: “Bring me some water!” or “Give me some water!” Voltaire unwittingly found himself right in the middle of this controversy. Finally, tired of this disgrace, the maestro could not stand it and said:
- Gentlemen, both of these expressions are inapplicable to you! You should both say, “Take me to water!”
Once Vladimir Mayakovsky had to speak in front of a whole hall of writers. This was not uncommon for him, but that speech of the proletarian poet became special. While he was reading his poems on the podium, one of the poet’s ill-wishers, of whom there were plenty in those years, shouted:
– I don’t understand your poems! They're kind of stupid!
“It’s okay, your children will understand,” Vladimir Vladimirovich answered.
- And my children will not understand your poems! – continued the ill-wisher.
“Well, why are you talking about your children so quickly,” the poet answered with a grin. “Maybe their mother is smart, maybe they’ll take after her.”
Once, speaking at Polytechnic Institute at a debate on proletarian internationalism, Vladimir Mayakovsky said:
– Among Russians I feel like a Russian, among Georgians I feel like a Georgian...
- And among fools? – suddenly someone shouted from the hall.
“And this is my first time among fools,” Mayakovsky answered instantly.
While traveling around France, Mark Twain traveled by train to the city of Dijon. The train was passing, and he asked to wake him up on time. At the same time, the writer said to the conductor:
– I sleep very soundly. When you wake me up, maybe I will scream. So ignore it and be sure to drop me off in Dijon.
When Mark Twain woke up, it was already morning and the train was approaching Paris. The writer realized that he had passed through Dijon and became very angry. He ran to the conductor and began to reprimand him.
– I have never been as angry as I am now! - he shouted.
“You are not as angry as the American whom I dropped off in Dijon at night,” answered the guide.
Mark Twain, being a newspaper editor, once published a devastating denunciation of a certain N. It contained the phrase: “Mr. N does not even deserve a spit in the face.” This gentleman filed a lawsuit, which ordered the newspaper to publish a refutation, and Mark Twain showed himself to be a “law-abiding” citizen: in the next issue of his newspaper it was published: “Mr. N deserves a spit in the face.”
End of introductory fragment.
Facts fill our lives, they are everywhere! How more facts are revealed to us, the more educated and erudite we become. And this is also a fact! This article contains several interesting and surprising moments in the lives of famous people that not many people know about.
Actor Woody Harrelson's father was hitman
Famous people often have famous parents, but not all of them became famous thanks to good deeds. Hollywood actor Woody Harrelson's father was notorious criminal Charles W. Harrelson, who was sentenced to two life sentences for the murder of federal judge Jonathan Wood.
Subsequently, his son often visited Charles in prison, and, according to him, he was well-read and educated person. Woody even tried to challenge the court's decision, but he failed.
Interesting fact: Charles Harrelson for some reason claimed that he was involved in the assassination of Kennedy, but later retracted his words. Conspiracy theorists still believe Charles Harrelson was one of the suspicious tramps found near the murder scene, but this is nothing more than speculation.
Duchess Margaret of Maultasch was not “the ugliest woman in the world”
According to popular belief, the 14th-century Countess of Tyrol and Duchess of Bavaria, Margarete Maultasch, is considered “the ugliest woman in history.” The “proof” of this statement is often the portrait that you now see in front of you, and Margarita’s very nickname. It is only one letter different from German word Maultasche - "dumpling", or literally "mouth-wallet".
However, some researchers believe that the word “maultash” did not denote the duchess’s ugly appearance, but came from the name of her castle in South Tyrol. As for the portrait, it was painted by the Flemish painter Quentin Masseys in the 16th century and is a caricature.
If we look at other images of Margarita, including the lifetime one on her personal seal, then we will see, albeit not written beauty, but quite an attractive woman with a good figure.
So where did the myth of the “ugliest woman in history” come from? The fact is that Margarita dared to take an impudence unheard of at that time: she kicked out her disgusted husband, whom she was married to at the age of 11, and became the wife of her loved one.
Margarita Maultash simply did not let her first husband Johann Heinrich (he is on the left) go home to the castle when he returned from hunting. Apparently, the husband did not use great love not only from his wife, but also from the citizens of Tyrol, since they all refused him shelter.
The disgruntled Johann found support from the Patriarch of Aquileia, as a result of which Margarita and her new husband Ludwig of Bavaria (he is on the right in the picture) were excommunicated from the church for a long time, and ridiculous rumors began to circulate about the duchess.
Marie Antoinette ordered a village to be built for herself, in which she could lead the life of a “commoner”
The brilliant atmosphere of Versailles and the need to observe court etiquette had a depressing effect on the queen, so as an outlet she ordered a tiny village to be built for herself not far from the Petit Trianon palace with a mill, a farm, a dovecote, a pond and a cottage, which was much more comfortable than the palace chambers. All this reminded Marie Antoinette of her childhood, which passed in the gardens of the Vienna palace, where she played with her relatives, governesses and dogs.
In her personal village, the queen dressed up as an ordinary shepherdess or milkmaid and walked with her children and closest friends, and it seems that it was there that she was truly happy. After the French Revolution, Marie Antoinette's village was abandoned, but has now been restored and is open to the public.
Abraham Lincoln gave a speech so impressive that no journalist could record it.
On May 29, 1856, in Bloomington, Illinois, Abraham Lincoln gave a speech that is traditionally considered lost, since all the reporters present at this event were literally hypnotized by the words of the future president (Lincoln became him in 1861) and simply forgot to write it down at least one word. We have no doubt at all about the oratorical talent of “Uncle Abe,” but, you must admit, it still sounds implausible.
There is another version, according to which the text was deliberately lost, since Lincoln’s speech was filled with a passionate condemnation of slavery, the abolition of which, alas, not everyone was in favor of at that time. Nevertheless, the “lost speech” made a huge impression on the audience, and in honor of this event a memorial plaque was subsequently erected, which still exists today.
Queen Victoria's best friend was groom John Brown
British Queen Victoria is a rare exception among monarchs (at least in earlier times) for the reason that she married for love and continued to adore her husband Prince Albert throughout her life. Do I need to explain that he early death became the hardest blow for her?
And who knows how she would have survived this event if not for the support best friend queens. He was the Scottish groom John Brown, who, like his relatives, faithfully served the queen at Balmoral Castle. Walks and conversations with John helped Victoria recover from the loss, although she never lifted her mourning for Albert until the end of her life.
Of course gossips They immediately ridiculed the relationship, which, according to Queen Victoria herself, was a warm and loving friendship. Sargent caricatures like the one you see now appeared, and the Queen began to be called “Mrs. Brown” behind her back.
Be that as it may, Victoria was strongly attached to John Brown and valued him highly, because after his death she ordered the erection of a statue in his honor, which was done. It is believed that before her death, the queen bequeathed to bury her with a portrait of her beloved husband Albert in one hand and a portrait of her best friend John in the other.
The story of Victoria and John Brown was filmed in 1997, and 10 years later another film called “Victoria and Abdul” was released. It tells about the queen’s relationship with another “favorite,” whose name was Abdul Karim.
As would be expected, this friendship was also condemned, although it is known for certain that the queen signed her letters to the handsome young man as “yours.” loving mother».
Composer Arnold Schoenberg was so afraid of the number 13 that he called it “12a.” He died on July 13 at 13 minutes before midnight
The founder of the new Viennese school of composer Arnold Schoenberg (pictured with his wife Gertrude and daughter Nuria) had a rare phobia - fear of the number 13, or triskaidekaphobia. Schoenberg was born on the 13th and counted this number all his life. bad omen.
As we have already mentioned, the composer renamed 13 to 12a, and the same fate befell his last opera, which Schoenberg called "Moses und Aron" instead of "Moses and Aaron" (only for so that the number of letters in the name does not amount to 13.
And yet, the last day of Arnold Schoenberg’s life was precisely the fatal date. On July 13, 1951, he lay in bed all day, feeling his death approaching. The wife tried to persuade the composer to “stop this nonsense” and get up, but he refused, and at 11:47 pm he actually died, having previously uttered the word “harmony.”
Winston Churchill loved animals, and one of his pets was a lion
The British Prime Minister was a great animal lover. IN different time Churchill had cats Nelson and Jock, a poodle Rufus, a bulldog Dodo, as well as cows, pigs, fish, butterflies, swans and other pets.
But perhaps the most unusual of the pets was a lion named Rota, who was presented to the prime minister as a gift as a kitten, and after some time he wisely assigned the growing king of animals to the London Zoo. Rota grew up and became the father of 4 lion cubs, and Churchill visited him at the zoo and fed him meat with his own hands.
Pablo Escobar was photographed in front of the White House in the USA
Drug lord Escobar was not always on the run. In 1981, he visited the United States quite legally and even took pictures with his son Juan Pablo in front of the White House in Washington. This photograph was taken by Pablo's wife Maria Victoria, and was first shown in the film "Sins of My Father", based on the book by Juan Pablo Escobar, who officially changed his name to Sebastian Marroquín and now lives in Argentina.
Steve Jobs He rarely showered because he believed his diet suppressed body odors. He was wrong
Every person has their own quirks, and great people are no exception. According to the recollections of colleagues who worked with Steve Jobs at Atari, he believed that his plant-based diet prevented the appearance of sweat odor, and, accordingly, it was no longer necessary to take a shower every day. But Jobs was wrong. And so much so that the company quickly transferred him to the night shift, where there was no one especially to complain about the unpleasant smell.
Princess Diana stopped wearing Chanel after her divorce from Prince Charles for a very personal reason
As designer Jayson Brunsdon said, after her divorce from Charles, Lady Di refused to wear shoes and possibly other things from Chanel, because the logo of this brand reminded Diana of her unfaithful husband and rival Camilla Parker-Bowles (you see her in the photo next to Diana).
The letters on the CC logo - the initials of Coco Chanel - turned into "Camilla & Charles" for Diana. It is unknown whether she subsequently changed her mind, but Brunsdon assures that Lady Di had nothing against the brand itself, she simply could not see those unfortunate letters CC.
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1. Edgar Allan Poe once wrote a story in which passengers who survived a shipwreck sail the ocean on a fragile boat and, out of hunger, kill and eat a cabin boy named Richard Parker. A few years later (in 1884), a skiff with three survivors of the shipwreck was discovered on the open sea. It turned out that some time ago, hunger forced them to kill and eat a cabin boy named Richard Parker. None of the survivors knew about Poe's story.
2. When Einstein died, his last words died with him: the nurse did not understand German.
3. Pushkin was challenged to a duel more than 90 times.
4. Stalin was 160 cm tall. Therefore, he was filmed exclusively from below. And one of his arms was shorter than the other. To hide this, he kept it bent, put it in his pocket, or smoked a pipe. It is noteworthy that many famous leaders often suffered from deformities. For example, Peter the Great had a very small head for his build. And Napoleon - apart from his height (150cm) - had very small legs.
5. Sir Isaac Newton, who discovered the law of attraction, also invented the cat door.
6. Hitler considered his main enemy in the USSR not Stalin, but the announcer Yuri Levitan. He announced a reward of 250 thousand marks for his head. The Soviet authorities carefully guarded Levitan, and disinformation about his appearance was launched through the press.
7. Queen Ranavalona of Madagascar executed her subjects if they appeared to her in a dream without warning.
8. The king of the Pacific island of Tonga, who was met by the legendary Captain Cook in 1777, can be considered the most loving man in the world. King Fatafehi Paulah loved his subjects with ardor and passion. He considered it not only his right, but also his sacred duty to deprive native virgins of their innocence. He performed this duty very zealously - 8-10 times a day, without holidays or weekends. During his life, he thus benefited 37,800 girls.
9. It took Henry Ford seven years to make the first million cars. 132 working days later (in 1924) Ford had already made 10 million cars.
10. Marilyn Monroe, when asked by a journalist: “What do you wear at night when you go to bed?” - replied: “Oh, just a few drops of Chanel number five.”
11. Until the end of his days, Hans Christian Andersen wrote with terrible grammatical and spelling errors. The situation was especially difficult with punctuation marks, and Andersen spent a lot of money on girls who rewrote his fairy tales before taking them to the publishing house.
12. At the 1936 Summer Olympics, Adolf Hitler refused to shake the hand of black American Jesse Owens in honor of his victory in the track.
13. According to Yeltsin himself, while working as a driver on the BKSM-5 tower crane, he negligently forgot to secure the crane after a working day, at night he discovered that it was moving, climbed into the control cabin and stopped the crane at the risk of his life.
Famous personalities differ from us not only in their achievements in one or another area of life. Facts from the lives of famous people also confirm their oddities. Famous people have such interesting biographies that you want to study them in full. Interesting facts from the lives of famous people will appeal to both children and adults.
1. captured Italy at the age of 26.
2. Hitler was named Person of the Year by Time.
3. Cleopatra was married to her brother.
4.Facts from the lives of famous people in America confirm that Andrew Jackson, the US President, believed that the Earth was flat.
5. For her wedding, Queen Victoria was given a piece of cheese whose diameter was 3 meters and weighed 500 kilograms.
6.Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' restroom. When there was a ball, his mother felt unwell and soon gave birth to him there.
7. Beethoven always brewed coffee from 64 beans.
8.Beria had syphilis.
9. Celine Dion and Madonna are cousins of the wife of Prince Charles.
10. I almost always fell asleep in front of the fireplace. Because of this, he suffered from lack of sleep.
11. I considered socks to be the most stupid thing.
12.The most loving man is considered to be the king of the island of Tonga, who is in Pacific Ocean. His name was Fatafehi Paulah.
13.I never had children, and intimate relationships Same.
14.Facts from the lives of famous people of Russia say that Alexander Suvorov did not lose a single battle.
15. always worked in the field equally with other men. And this happened despite the fact that he was a count.
16. Nikola Tesla had panic fear in relation to microbes.
17. Andriana Lima, who is considered a famous Brazilian model, remained faithful until the wedding. And exactly 9 months after the wedding, her daughter was born.
18.Paul McCartney, due to his own workload, did not have time to purchase an engagement ring for his beloved.
19. Cristiano Ronaldo is the most expensive player in the history of football.
20. Jackie Chan's mother carried him for 12 months and this one was born famous person weighing more than 5 kilograms.
21. Interesting facts about famous people provide information that Marilyn Monroe before she became famous model, worked at an aircraft factory.
22.Brad Pitt's first job was performing on the streets dressed as a "chicken".
24.Marilyn Monroe's bra sold at auction for $14,000.
25. To hide hair loss, Julius Caesar put a laurel wreath on his head.
26.Elizabeth the First imposed taxes on men who had a beard.
27. John Rockefeller gave away more than $500 million to charity in his own life.
28.Winston Churchill smoked at least 15 cigars a day.
29. King Solomon had approximately 700 wives and 100 mistresses.
30.Moart has never been to school.
31. Sigmund Freud had a panic attack before the number 62.
32.Louis Pasteur was a sponsor of the brewery.
33. Alexander the Great knew by sight about 30,000 of his own soldiers.
34.Queen Elizabeth had approximately 3,000 outfits.
35.Voltaire's body was stolen from the grave.
36.Dutch artist Van Gogh had bouts of madness. During one of them he cut off his ear.
37. Yuri Gagarin wrote a farewell letter to his wife before flying into space, because he did not know how the expedition would end.
38. Luciano Pavarotti was fond of football.
39. Genghis Khan had a panicky fear of death. And this despite his cruelty towards his enemies.
40.When Alla Pugacheva was born, cancer was discovered on her throat. It was immediately removed.
41. Sylvester Stallone was often beaten in school years.
42. participated in duels more than 90 times.
43.Saddam Hussein wrote the Koran with his own blood.
44.Charlie Chaplin's body was stolen 3 months later by doormen who demanded a ransom.
45.When Vladimir Putin worked for the KGB, his code name was “mole.”
46.The largest fee of $20 million was first received by Julia Roberts.
47. All shoes for Paris Hillton were made to order, because she had big size feet and it’s difficult to find the right shoes.
48.Whoopi Goldberg, who is considered an actress, has no eyebrows.
49.Rihanna didn’t even finish school.
50.Beethoven wet himself ice water in order to raise your mental tone.
51. During his childhood, Charles Darwin's father considered his son mediocrity.
52. Demosthenes had a speech impediment as a child.
53.Genghis Khan died while making love.
54. Arthur Conan Doyle, who wrote Sherlock Holmes, was an ophthalmologist by profession.
55.Walt Disney was afraid of mice throughout his life.
56.Mozart began composing music at the age of 3. At the age of 35, he already had more than 600 works.
57.At the age of 3, Albert Einstein did not speak a word.
58.Timberlake is very afraid of spiders.
59.The national Italian flag was created by Napoleon Bonaparte.
60. Queen Anne was the mother of 17 children.
61.The autograph of the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar was valued at $2 million.
62.Charles Dickens preferred to sleep only facing north.
63. George Washington's birthday was the only birthday that was a holiday in the United States.
64.Uma Thurman's father was a monk and professor of Eastern religion.
65. Taylor Swift first played the guitar at the age of 10.
66. Ashton Kutcher trained as a biochemist.
67. Riana was a cadet in the Barbadian Army.
68.In her childhood, Angelina Jolie wore braces and glasses, for which the guys teased her.
69.Until the age of 16, Jennifer Garner did not wear a thong or use cosmetics because she was forbidden to do so.
70.Tom Cruise had a dream - to become a priest.
71.Demi Moore attempted suicide during her school years.
72.Queen Victoria spent 40 years in mourning after the death of her husband. She did not take off her black dresses at this time.
73.Mussolini was deathly afraid of cats.
74. Alfred Hitchcock was afraid of eggs in any form.
75. Julio Iglesias played in the Real Madrid football team in his youth.
76.Charlie Chaplin is considered the highest paid actor.
77. Marilyn Monroe grew up in an orphanage.
78. Tchaikovsky had a legal education.
79. Ricky Martin had two children through a surrogate mother, and all his life he hid his own sexuality.
80.Hitler was a vegetarian.
81.The spouses executed two of their six English king Henry the Eighth.
82.Paul McCartney's mother was a midwife and helped children be born.
83.Kipling could not write his works in ink because they were black.
84. Benjamin Franklin wanted to make the turkey the national bird of the United States of America.
85. Bill Clinton sent only 2 emails during all his years in office.
86. George Washington did not shake hands when meeting, but only bowed.
87. before you start writing activity, was a doctor.
88.Cleopatra preferred to test poisons on her slaves.
89.Winston Churchill had Indian ancestors on his mother's side.
90.Queen Victoria spoke in English language with a German accent.
91.Henry Ford, who is considered a successful businessman, had only a high school education.
92.Sarah Jessica Parker is attached to a black little dress, so she even got married in a black dress.
93.At one of his concerts, Ozzy Osbourne bit off the head of a bat.
94.Elizabeth Taylor had double row eyelashes
95. During my school years I was a bad student in physics.
96.The Chupa Chups logo was drawn by Salvador Dali.
97. Kate Middleton's wedding dress could be purchased for $300 the morning after the ceremony.
98. Elvis Presley worked for a trucking company in his youth.
99. Napoleon's penis was purchased for $40,000 by an American urologist.