Lesser Known Facts About Historical Figures

Mata Hari was into caves.

I have recently used some of the spare time that the quarantine has afforded me to do historical research. What I've looked for and found is some interesting tidbits about some of the most famous people in world history. I confess to having known none of these fascinating facts before embarking on my research. In reading these, I hope you that will be as edified and entertained as I was in compiling them.

Charles Dickens was one of the first contestants on The Price is Right. He won a dinette set.

According to biblical scholars, Jesus Christ frequently complained about his commute.

Sigmund Freud’s original quote was “sometimes a spigot is just a spigot” but a friend who was an executive in the cigar industry talked him into changing it.

Before signing the Declaration of Independence, John Hancock said, “let me put my me on it.”

Charles De Gaulle was once mistakenly arrested for stealing a harpsichord. The real culprit was his doppelgänger, Irv Kettlebaum.

Adolph Hitler’s last meal was Oreos and milk.

In Vittoria DeSica’s original script, instead of stealing a bicycle,  the main character was going to borrow sugar from a neighbor.

Ironically, Julius Caesar never ordered the Caesar salad.

Exotic dancer and convicted World War I spy Mata Hari was an avid spelunker.

Katharine Hepburn and Eleanor Roosevelt once braided each other’s hair.

Abraham Lincoln often complained that Thai food gave him indigestion.

While it is well-known that the famous French novelist Marcel Proust liked to write in bed, less well- known is the fact that he liked to sleep at his desk.

Babe Ruth and Mahatma Gandhi once shared a cab.

Former Secretary of State Cordell Hull lost his Nobel Peace Prize in a poker game.

In addition to being a great orator and writer, Frederick Douglass was reputedly a kick ass shuffleboard player.

Intimates of George Washington called him G Dub.

Lee Harvey Oswald graduated magna cum laude from Roscoe Arbuckle High School.

Maria Callas was an avid crescent wrench aficionado with over 200 different wrenches in her collection.

At the time of his death, Samuel Morse was working on a modification for the telegraph that would have allowed for face time.

Much to the annoyance of Louis XVIII, Cardinal Richelieu regularly came down with Spring Fever.

Alexander Graham Bell hated being put on hold.