LOVE history? Don’t care about it being 100 per cent correct, or even half correct? Here are five stories we didn’t fact check at all:
George Washington had wooden tits
Before the advent of plastic or metal, medical materials had to be made from wood – and that included breast implants. This American hero frequently wore them at parties and even while he was signing the Declaration of Independence. Fascinating.
Marie Antoinette said ‘Let me eat cake’
This French queen was famously empathetic, and after hearing of the plight of the starving peasantry, she decided to quit her diet and start eating cake again to show her gratitude for living in a fancy palace. From then on, everyone in Versailles cleaned their plate, or they were sent to the guillotine.
Nero played the synthesiser while Rome burned
Despite living in a villa, Nero was a huge fan of house. He took the sick beats of collapsing buildings and screaming citizens and turned them into a truly unforgettable dance track. Two thousand years later, we’re still waiting for the drop.
Abraham Lincoln improvised the Gettysburg Address
Turning up at the place where a fierce battle had been fought months previously, Lincoln had a raging hangover and hadn’t prepared anything to say. Luckily, he was a fantastic improviser and came up with ‘fourscore and seven years ago’ on the fly. He did an interpretive dance afterwards, but his secretary neglected to write the moves down for posterity.
Henry VIII had six legs
One of history’s most famous kings, Henry VIII, had to ask permission from the Pope to get an additional four legs added to his obese, turkey leg-bolstered frame. When the Vatican refused to recognise his request, England split from the Catholic Church and he established the Church of Scientology.
