# Surprising info you found out about an historical figure? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 19, 2019, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-info-you-found-out-about-an-historical-figure/838861 "2019-08-19T02:39:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2019, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-info-you-found-out-about-an-historical-figure/838861/61 "2019-08-20T17:06:07Z")
The Vienna of 1913 [ul] [li]Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin spent a month in the city, meeting Trotsky and writing Marxism and the National Question, with Nikolay Bukharin.[/li][li]The neurologist Sigmund Freud moved to Vienna in 1860 as a child and left the city in 1938 after the Nazis annexed Austria.[/li][li]Nazi leader Adolf Hitler is believed to have lived there between 1908 and 1913 where he struggled to make a living as a painter.[/li][li]Josip Broz, later Yugoslav leader Marshal Tito, was a metalworker before being drafted into the Austro-Hungarian army.[/li][li]Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky lived in Vienna from about 1907 to 1914, launching paper Pravda - The Truth.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2019, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-info-you-found-out-about-an-historical-figure/838861/62 "2019-08-20T17:21:13Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Adolf Hitler’s brother, Alois Hitler Junior, worked as a kitchen porter at the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin, where he met Irish girl Bridget Dowling. In 1910, they eloped to London, and in 1911, they had a son, William Patrick Hitler. Alois returned to Germany during World War I, abandoning his Irish-English family. In 1939, Patrick was invited to tour the United States to lecture about his famous uncle. His mother joined him in the United States. During World War II William served in the United States Navy, and became a naturalized US citizen after the war. He changed his name to William Patrick Stuart-Houston. More accurately, Alois Jr was Adolf’s half-brother from Alois Sr’s second marriage to Franziska “Fanni” Matzelsberger (and was actually born out of wedlock). That union also produced Adolf’s half-sister Angela, the mother of Geli Raubal, who would later commit suicide (apparently) as a result of her famous uncle’s attentions. As a young man, William Patrick spent time in Germany, apparently sponging off Adolf. In 1938, he published a \*Look \*article titled “Why I Hate My Uncle.” It’s interesting that William Patrick adopted the surname Stuart-Houston, since it’s associated with this man: > **[Houston Stewart Chamberlain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houston_Stewart_Chamberlain)** > > Houston Stewart Chamberlain (/ˈtʃeɪmbərlɪn/; 9 September 1855 – 9 January 1927) was a British-German philosopher who wrote works about political philosophy and natural science. His writing promoted German ethnonationalism, antisemitism, scientific racism, and Nordicism; he has been described as a "racialist writer". His best-known book, the two-volume Die Grundlagen des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts (The Foundations of the Nineteenth Century), published 1899, became highly influential in the pan Bo... This change of name was hushed up for many years, and the location of William Patrick’s remains (a cemetery on Long Island) wasn’t revealed until fairly recently. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2019, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-info-you-found-out-about-an-historical-figure/838861/63 "2019-08-20T17:41:12Z")
Albert Einstein had a somewhat turbulent personal life. As a young man, he fell in love with a family friend and was engaged to her, but began an affair with fellow student Mileva Maric. She became pregnant and had a daughter, who either died or was given up for adoption. Einstein and Maric married, and had a son, but it wasn’t a happy union and Einstein started an affair with his cousin Elsa, whom he eventually married. He probably cheated on her as well, but she looked the other way. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2019, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-info-you-found-out-about-an-historical-figure/838861/64 "2019-08-20T18:44:13Z")
Benjamin Franklin had an illegitimate son. He acknowledged him and helped raise him, but they took opposite sides during the American Revolution. Despite some attempts afterwards, they never really reconciled. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2019, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-info-you-found-out-about-an-historical-figure/838861/65 "2019-08-20T18:50:33Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > Benjamin Franklin had an illegitimate son. He acknowledged him and helped raise him, but they took opposite sides during the American Revolution. Despite some attempts afterwards, they never really reconciled. …and his son was the Royal Governor of New Jersey during the revolution. Talk about awkward family situations… > **[William Franklin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Franklin)** > > William Franklin FRSE (22 February 1730 – 17 November 1813) was an American-born attorney, soldier, politician, and colonial administrator. He was the acknowledged extra-marital son of Benjamin Franklin. William Franklin was the last colonial Governor of New Jersey (1763–1776), and a steadfast Loyalist throughout the American Revolutionary War. In contrast, his father Benjamin was, in later life, one of the most prominent of the Patriot leaders of the American Revolution and a Founding Father o... ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2019, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-info-you-found-out-about-an-historical-figure/838861/66 "2019-08-20T19:20:54Z")
During World War II, Polish seminary student Karol Wojtyła, who would later become Pope John Paul II, was struck by vehicles and injured on three separate occasions: by a tram in 1940, by a truck, also in 1940, and by a German truck in 1944. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2019, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-info-you-found-out-about-an-historical-figure/838861/67 "2019-08-20T23:23:31Z")
Cervantes and Shakespeare died on the same date - [4/23/1616](https://www.dw.com/en/shakespeare-and-cervantes-two-geniuses-and-one-death-date/a-19203237) - but not on the same day: > [@](#): > > The death date recorded for both Shakespeare and Cervantes is April 23, 1616. > > Shakespeare was buried at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford. Cervantes’ remains vanished in a mass grave, to be identified many centuries after his death, in 2015. The initials M.C. on a casket, and the wounds on his chest and hand were clues to the identity of the bones. > > The Spanish author actually died 10 days earlier than his English contemporary - the countries used different calendars back then. England used the Julian calendar, while Spain had already adopted the Gregorian calendar. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2019, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-info-you-found-out-about-an-historical-figure/838861/68 "2019-08-20T23:40:59Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > John Sutter, the guy on whose California gold was found in 1848, leading to the gold Rush, was born in Germany and grew up in Switzerland, got a French passport and emigrated to the United States, then moved to Alta California in what was then Mexico, becoming a Mexican citizen. He set up what was practically his own little country of New Helvetia, where he made peace with the local Maida Indians, but employed enslaved Hawaiians (Kanakas) and Miwok (and Maidus) to work for him (some 600-800). He formed a paramilitary corps of them wearing Russian uniforms and commanded in German. He left Switzerland to avoid financial problems that could have landed him jail. He had a wife and five children at the time, ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-info-you-found-out-about-an-historical-figure/838861/69 "2019-08-21T15:04:54Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > Florence Nightingale was named after the city she was born in, while her parents were on a three-year honeymoon. So was her older sister, though since this would have led to her being “Naples Nightingale” she ended up as “Parthenope”. I gather that their parents’ pet names for the two sisters were Flo and Po respectively. ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-info-you-found-out-about-an-historical-figure/838861/70 "2019-08-21T17:41:33Z")
Ronald Reagan was born 6 years before JFK. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-info-you-found-out-about-an-historical-figure/838861/71 "2019-08-21T17:59:17Z")
Stockbroker Hugh Auchincloss was the second husband of Nina S. Gore, the mother of Gore Vidal. He was also the second husband of Janet Lee Bouvier, the mother of Jackie Bouvier Kennedy. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-info-you-found-out-about-an-historical-figure/838861/72 "2019-08-21T23:42:20Z")
> [@mandala](#): > > He liked to sleep naked with young (naked) women and girls, to test his celibacy. A complete weirdo. :eek: Was he graded on a curve? ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2019, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-info-you-found-out-about-an-historical-figure/838861/73 "2019-08-22T00:30:27Z")
John Entwistle , bass player for the Who, was a freemason for his entire adult life. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2019, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-info-you-found-out-about-an-historical-figure/838861/74 "2019-08-22T01:08:32Z")
When Mary Todd Lincoln was once asked if her husband, Abraham, had any hobbies, she replied “cats.” ---
**Author:** ![bmoak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@bmoak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2019, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-info-you-found-out-about-an-historical-figure/838861/75 "2019-08-22T01:14:56Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Vince Lombardi began his coaching career as an assistant and later as a head coach at St. Cecilia High School in Englewood, New Jersey. I currently live in Englewood, NJ, and I did not know that fact until five minutes ago. My dad’s an alumni of St Cecilia’s and he played football there and I did not know that. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2019, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-info-you-found-out-about-an-historical-figure/838861/76 "2019-08-22T02:47:41Z")
The Zildjian Cymbal Company of Norwell, Massachusetts was founded in Constantinople in the 17th century by an Armenian named Avedis Zildjian. “Zildjian” is an Armenian name that means “son of a cymbal maker”. He was an alchemist trying to mix metals to produce sheets that could produce music without shattering. In the late 19th century, Aram Zildjian, being Armenian, had to flee the Ottoman Empire. The family wound up in Massachusetts, and started the family business in 1929. In the 1970s, the family split up over whether or not to keep the metal manufacturing process a secret, and Robert Zildjian, brother of then-company President Armand Zildjian, moved to Canada, where he started the Sabian Cymbal Company. ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2019, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-info-you-found-out-about-an-historical-figure/838861/77 "2019-08-22T03:47:11Z")
Edgar Allan Poe attended West Point as a cadet, and was dismissed. Afterward, he requested a recommendation from the commandant so that he could serve as an officer in the Polish army. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2019, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-info-you-found-out-about-an-historical-figure/838861/78 "2019-08-22T09:00:28Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > John Entwistle , bass player for the Who, was a freemason for his entire adult life. Some other famous freemasons: Richard Pryor Don Rickles Harry Houdini Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Michael Richards Harpo Marx ---
**Author:** ![Royal\_Nonesutch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecb155/32.png) [@Royal\_Nonesutch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Royal_Nonesutch)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2019, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-info-you-found-out-about-an-historical-figure/838861/79 "2019-08-22T11:35:49Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Richard Pryor Richard Pryor’s mother was a prostitute, his father a pimp (with an explosive, violent temper) and his grandmother a madam who ran her own house. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2019, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-info-you-found-out-about-an-historical-figure/838861/80 "2019-08-22T11:41:05Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Some other famous freemasons: > > Richard Pryor > Don Rickles > Harry Houdini > Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart > Michael Richards > Harpo Marx “Are you an Entered Apprentice Mason?” [HONK] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-info-you-found-out-about-an-historical-figure/838861.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-info-you-found-out-about-an-historical-figure/838861.md?page=5)