15 Interesting Facts About Famous World Great Leaders

Interesting facts about famous world great leaders:

Introduction

While their impressive accomplishments are widely recognized, there’s much more to these world leaders than what’s been documented in history books.

From their personal interests to their unique quirks, we present an array of interesting facts that offer a more intimate look at these figures.

Here are the top interesting facts about famous world great leaders:

#1 Julius Caesar

Roman statesman and general Julius Caesar turned the Roman Republic into the almighty Roman Empire.

According to some scholars, the origin of the Caesar name is attributable to one of Caesar’s forebears who was “caesus,” (translating from Latin as “cut”) from his mother’s womb.

He was once kidnapped by pirates while still a young man. Julius Caesar told them that he would have them executed once he was free. The pirates laughed, However, he later captured them and had them killed.

#2 Napoleon Bonaparte

Early in his military career, he was nicknamed “The Little Corporal” for his short stature.

To help win Egypt, he considered converting his army and himself to Islam; however, he decided against it because the French troops wouldn’t resist the temptation to drink alcohol.

After a hard defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated and was exiled to the remote island of Saint Helena, where he died at 51.

#3 Chief Placido (Tonkawa leader)

Placido, known in his natal language as Ha-shu-ka-na, which translates as – ”Can’t Kill Him,” was an important chief of the Tonkawas during the 19th century.

He was born the son of a Comanche female slave and a Tonkawa Chief.

During his time as chief, he became friends with Stephen F. Austin and helped him with fights against the Comanches.

#4 Abraham Lincoln

He was the 16th president of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. Abraham Lincoln had very little formal education; nevertheless, he had a strong interest in learning and books.

Furthermore, he is the only president in US history to hold a patent. Moreover, when he was active president, he mostly used the current Lincoln Bedroom as his personal office.

The 16th president is also responsible for the day of Thanksgiving, which he proclaimed on the last Thursday of November 1864.

#5 Mahatma Gandhi

He was born on October 2, 1869, in Porbandar, a town north of Bombay.

Mahatma Gandhi spoke English with a tinge of an Irish accent due to the fact that one of his 1st English teachers was Irish.

He was imprisoned a few times during his pursuit of non-cooperation and undertook many hunger strikes to protest the oppression of India’s poorest classes.

Although being considered one of the strongest symbols of non-violence in the 20th century, he never received the Nobel Prize.

#6 Winston Churchill

Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill was born to an aristocratic family on November 30, 1874. As a student, he performed poorly in virtually every matter except English and history composition.

During Prohibition in the U.S., he referred publicly to the Constitutional amendment banning alcohol as “an affront to the whole history of mankind.”

Moreover, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953.

#7 Mikhail Gorbachev

After World War II, Mikhail Gorbachev studied law in Moscow and pursued a career in the Communist Party. Gorbachev won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1990 and became the 1st president of the Soviet Union in that same year.

In 1997, he, with his 10-year-old granddaughter, appeared in a television ad for the Pizza Hut fast-food chain. Furthermore, he had one child, a daughter named Irina.

During the post-Soviet period, he held no position of power; however, Mikhail Gorbachev continued to be politically active.

#8 Fidel Castro

He was born near Birán, Cuba, in 1926. His supporters laud him as a champion of anti-imperialism and socialism, whose revolutionary regime secured Cuba’s independence from American imperialism.

He married Mirta Balart in 1948, and together they had one child named Fidelito.

Additionally, he released a two-volume memoir of his life, named – “Fidel Castro Ruz: Guerrilla of Time,” based on conversations with the journalist Katiuska Blanco.

#9 Richard Nixon

Through his maternal grandfather, Richard Nixon reportedly descended from King Edward III of England. In 1942, he joined the US Navy, serving in the South Pacific during World War II.

Richard Nixon had a chance to attend Harvard but had to decline. He served as Vice-President for 8 years under Eisenhower.

#10 Nelson Mandela

He was the president of South Africa from 1994-1999. He spent the 1st 18 of his 27 years in a former leper colony off the coast of Cape Town, a hard jail.

He was elected the 1st black president of the Republic of South Africa in the 1st open election in the country’s history.

Interestingly, Nelson Mandela wasn’t removed from the United States terror watch list until 2008, at age 89.

#11 Margaret Thatcher

In October 1943, Margaret Thatcher was admitted to Somerville College to study chemistry at Oxford. She served as Prime Minister of the UK from 1979 to 1990. Margaret Thatcher was known as the Iron Lady because of her tough leadership style and unbending political views.

In October 1984, the Irish Republican Army bombed the hotel Margaret Thatcher and many of her cabinet were staying in during the Conservative Party annual conference.

Not long after leaving office, she was appointed to the House of Lords as Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven in 1992.

#12 Nicolas Sarkozy

He was born to immigrant Hungarian and Greek parents. Nicolas Sarkozy’s political career started young (when he was 23), as he was appointed the municipal councilor of the Neuilly-sur-Seine area.

His mentor was Chirac, nevertheless, in the 1995 elections, he supported Jacques Chirac’s opponent, Édouard Balladur.

He was the 1st president to appoint a female finance minister.

After suggesting that pedophilia may have genetic connections, his character came into question. He unabashedly admits that he enjoys Celine Dion and loves reality TV shows.

#13 Angela Merkel

She is the youngest Chancellor since World War II, in the history of Germany.

Angela Merkel has a doctorate in quantum chemistry and a degree in physics, and some say her amazing success as a politician comes from her scientific, analytic approach to different situations.

Angela Merkel married Joachim Sauer in 1998 after previously being married to Ulrich Merkel from 1977 to 1982. In 2015, Forbes named her number 1 on its list of ”the world’s 100 most powerful women.”

ALSO READ: Signs of Suppressed Emotions

#14 Barack Obama

He is bi-racial with an African father and a white mother from Kenya.

After his 1991 graduation from Harvard Law School, he taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004.

Furthermore, Barack Obama served 3 terms in the thirtieth District of the Illinois Senate from 1997 until 2004.

On October 21, 2011, Barack Obama announced the complete withdrawal of all United States troops in Iraq by December 31.

#15 Donald Trump

Donald John Trump was born June 14, 1946, in Jamaica Estates, Queens, a neighborhood in New York City.

He has his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame that he received for the reality TV show The Apprentice.

He has received 2 Emmy nods for his work in television.

More importantly, he has become the 45th president of the US and is the only presidential candidate with his own board game, named – Trump: The Game.

Images source – https://pixabay.com/photos/indian-currency-money-cash-rupee-1343428/

ALSO READ: Interesting Facts About Confucius

References

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/caesar_julius.shtml
http://www.biography.com/people/barack-obama-12782369
https://www.whitehouse.gov/1600/presidents/abrahamlincoln
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/margaretthatcher

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