History Facts

Sumerians invented writing in the 4th century BC.

Marie de' Medici (1575 - 1642) was a member of that famous Italian family and, as wife of Henry IV, queen of France. Like most French royals, she had expensive tastes in clothes. So much, in fact, that she almost bankrupted France with her extravagance.

Marie was not the first royal with expensive habits. Francis I, who became king of France in 1515 (and ruled until his death in 1547) had 13,600 gold buttons on a single coat.

King Louis XIV was also known for his opulence. Known as the Sun King, he reigned France 1643 - when he was only 4 years old - until his death in 1715, which made him the longest reigning European monarch (72 years). He spent some $5 million on diamond buttons for his coats. One of his coats had 171 diamond buttons.

But Marie had outdone them. One of her dresses had 3,000 diamonds. Of course, at that time diamonds were valued less than pearls. But she had 39,000 tiny pearls in that dress. It cost the equivalent of $20 million dollars in 1606. She wore it once.

Marie's son, Louis XIII, ruled France from 1612 to 1617 but they were exiled 1631. Marie died in poverty.

The British anthem was performed the most times in a single performance. In 1909, while waiting for King Edward VII who was getting dressed a German band played the anthem 17 times.

Edward the Confessor grew up in Normandy, France while his half-brother Hardicanute was ruling England. At Hardicanute's death in 1042, Edward took the throne and surrounded himself with his Norman favorites. In 1051, he named William, Duke of Normandy, heir to the English throne but it was taken by Harold II in January 1066. Nine months later, at the Battle of Hastings, William conquered England, hence William the Conqueror. For the next 300 years, the rulers and nobility of England spoke French, not English.

Born in 69 BC, Cleopatra was the daughter of Ptolemy XII Auletes and Cleopatra V, an Egyptian lady from a Memphite priestly family. She was a mistress of the powerful Roman military and political leader, Julius Caesar, but after his death, married his General, Mark Antony. There have been many stories surrounding her - her relation with Julius and Antony, her marriage to her younger brother, and her death. She was intelligent, charming, and could convince anyone. She saved her kingdom from the Romans, but after losing the battle of Actium in which Octavian invaded Egypt, she committed suicide.

1. Cleopatra'a full name was Cleopatra Thea Philopator VII.

2. After the death of her father, Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysos, she became the Pharaoh of the Ptolemaic Dynasty, ruling for 21 years, from 51 BC to 30 BC.

3. She wasn't an Egyptian, but was of Macedonian Greek origin, descendant of Ptolemy I, a Greek general of Alexander the Great who, upon his death, became the king of Egypt.

4. She was the last Pharaoh of Egypt. After her death, Egypt became a Roman territory.

5. She had three sisters; two older and one younger. The eldest was named after her mother Cleopatra V Tryphaena, which means pleasure seeker. Hence, there were two Cleopatras in the family. They were distinguished by their middle names.

6. She was the only person in the entire Ptolemaic dynasty who could speak Egyptian; she was in fact a master of 9 languages.

7. There were around seven Cleopatras in the dynasty, which is why she is officially known as Cleopatra VII.

8. She married her 12 year old brother Ptolemy XIII, when she was 18. They ruled together for 4 years before he was drowned.

9. She had the oomph factor - charisma, quick thinking ability, and amazing persuasive powers.

10. She had herself rolled up in a carpet and ordered her soldiers to take her inside Ptolemy's palace where Julius Caesar was staying. She did it because she wanted to seduce Caesar, so that he would make her queen of Egypt again.

11. Cleopatra was the mistress of Julius Caesar, and she probably married him.

12. Had 4 children - Caesarion, also known as Ptolemy Caesar (son of Julius Caesar), Alexander Helios, Cleopatra Selene II, and Ptolemy Philadelphus.

13. After the death of Caesar, she and Mark Antony fell in love and got married.

14. Contrary to the popular belief that she was beautiful, historians say she wasn't. They cite the proof from coins dating back to her time, which depict her with a hooked nose and masculine features.

15. She had a eunuch friend named Mardian whom she befriended when she was a little girl. Mardian learned to read and write at her palace and they both remained friends for a lifetime.

16. Mark Antony committed suicide on the battlefield after being misinformed about the death of Cleopatra.

17. Shattered after hearing the news of the death of Mark Antony, she committed suicide by making an asp, an Egyptian cobra, bite her in the breast. One of the most famous love stories (Antony and Cleopatra), thus ended tragically. She was only 39 at that time.

18. She believed, she was the daughter of Egyptian goddess Isis, and the bite of an asp would take her to the gods.

The word Cleopatra is in itself a mystery. Historians have been toiling hard for decades to uncover the hidden secrets, but have been unsuccessful always. Only time will tell, when the secrets are uncovered, whether she was beautiful, ugly or Caesar's wife. However, until then, she will always be remembered as the mysterious Egyptian queen who mesmerized one and all.

Approximately 25,000 workers died during the building of the Panama Canal, and approximately 20,000 of them contracted malaria and yellow fever.

1. Despite becoming the dictator of Germany, Hitler was not born there. Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn, Austria on April 20, 1889.

2. Hitler had only one sibling that survived childhood, Paula (1896-1960). However, Hitler also had four other siblings that died in childhood: Gustav (1885-1887), Ida (1886-1888), Otto (1887), and Edmund (1894-1900).

3. In addition to his sister Paula, Hitler had one step-brother, Alois (b. 1882) and one step-sister, Angela (1883-1949), both from his father's previous marriage.

4. Throughout his youth, Hitler dreamed of becoming an artist. He applied twice to the Vienna Academy of Art (once in 1907 and again in 1908) but was denied entrance both times.

5. After his mother's death, Hitler spent four years living on the streets of Vienna, selling postcards of his artwork to make a little money.

6. Hitler never allows anyone to see him while he is naked or bathing. He refuses to use cologne or scents of any sort on his body.

7. No matter how warm he feels, Hitler will never take off his coat in public.

8. In 1923, Nazi press secretary Dr. Sedgwick tried to convince Hitler to get rid of his trademark mustache or grow it normally. Hitler answered: "Do not worry about my mustache. If it is not the fashion now, it will be later because I wear it!"

9. If Hitler begins speaking about Wagner and the opera, no one dares interrupt him. He will often sermonize on this topic until his audience falls asleep.

10. Hitler has no interest in sports or games of any kind and never exercised, except for an occasional walk.

11. He paces frequently inside rooms, always to the same tune that he whistles to himself and always diagonally across the room, from corner to corner

12. Hitler's handwriting is impeccable. When famous psychologist Carl Jung saw Hitler's handwriting in 1937, he remarked: "Behind this handwriting I recognize the typical characteristics of a man with essentially feminine instinct."

13. Hitler loves the circus. He takes real pleasure in the idea that underpaid performers are risking their lives to please him. He went to the circus on several occasions in 1933 and sent extremely expensive chocolates and flowers to the female performers. Hitler even remembered their names and would worry about them and their families in the event of an accident. He isn't interested in wild animal acts, unless there is a woman in danger

14. Hitler staff secretly made films for him of torture and execution of political prisoners, which he very much enjoyed viewing. His executive assistants also secured pornographic pictures and movies for him.

15. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler had only one testicle.

16. Hitler always kept his private life very secret, but some people say that they know very much about his private life i.e. He was Homosexual, he had love affairs with lot of women such as his niece Geli Raubal and, of course, Eva Braun, Adolf Hitler's homosexuality has been proven beyond question by German historian Lothar Machtan's massively researched new book, The Hidden Hitler, which shows homosexuality's central role in Hitler's personal life.

17. Hitler was very proud of his German Shepherd named Blondi. He spent countless hours training her, and would even interrupt meetings with generals to practice her tricks. The generals realized that if Blondi did well, Hitler was in a better mood, and more likely to take their advice. If she did poorly, he would become sullen and stubborn. One of the officers later said, "I sometimes had the impression that the outcome of the Russian campaign depended more on Blondi than the German general staff.

18. Everyone know Hitler as a furious and ruthless general, but not many people know he loved to crack jokes with his close associates whenever he had free time; Rochus Misch, who is now 90 years old and who served as telephonist in the Berlin bunker says " Hitler, the mass killer, "had a small fund of jokes"

At age 18, the Queen of England was a mechanic for the British Military.