10 More Scandalous Facts About Historical Figures

MICHAEL VAN DUISEN NOVEMBER 15, 2013History, at least what we re taught, is often
whitewashed, glossing over details people feel are unimportant or detrimental to the
idealized version in their heads. We ve covered ten such historical scandals in t
he past, but if there s one thing we know about history, it s that there s no shortage
of immoral conduct. Here are 10 more obscure and scandalous facts about well-kn
own historical figures.10 Abraham Lincoln1- Lincoln
Fact: He disapproved of the First Amendment.Granted, the phrasing of that fact i
s a little misleading, but Abraham Lincoln did spend an awful lot of his time du
ring the American Civil War punishing those who held anti-Union sentiments. He h
ad his reasons of course, declaring the preservation of the Union to be above an
ything else even above the preservation of the rights of the citizens of said Unio
n. During the war, he was quoted as saying: Must I shoot a simple soldier boy who
deserts, while I must not touch a hair of a wily agitator who induces him to de
sert? He also suspended habeas corpus, an act which was ruled unconstitutional by
the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Despite that, Lincoln continued with hi
s efforts for the rest of the war.
9 Isaac Newton2-Newton-e1384375859656
Fact: He was an alchemist.Perhaps the greatest scientific mind in history, Newto
n was responsible for a number of different things, including calculus, his laws
of motion, and much of the foundation of modern physics. However, there was one
widely discredited field in which he believed wholeheartedly: alchemy. Absolute
ly sure he could create the Philosopher s Stone, that mythical item which was beli
eved to be able to transmute metals into gold and grant extended life, Newton de
voted much of his later life to this futile pursuit. He was also very secretive,
writing all of his experiments and results in code some which hasn t even been tran
slated.8 Aristotle3- aristotle
Fact: He was a misogynist.Often considered the greatest thinker and philosopher
in human history, Aristotle was responsible for the direction of Western thought
for nearly 2,000 years. However, much like his contemporaries, he was also stau
nchly misogynistic; he even wrote that a woman is perhaps an inferior being and th
at a female was as it were, a deformity. A lot of the basis of his thinking was ro
oted in the animal kingdom and erroneous biological hypotheses that were widely
believed at the time. Aristotle did believe that women needed to be a part of so
ciety, and that their happiness was beneficial even required for a society to functi
on properly, but it doesn t make up for the sexist views he took and which helped
influence Western thinking for millennia. Granted, they probably would have come
up with the same ideas on their own eventually, but it didn t help that the most
influential speaker of the time was spoon-feeding it to them.7 Franklin Delano R
oosevelt4- roosevelt
Fact: He had a longtime mistress.The only president to serve more than two terms
and an inspiration to a nation suffering through the Great Depression, FDR was
undoubtedly a great man though not without flaws. As is usually the case with men
in power, he liked to touch things that didn t belong to him in other words, he chea
ted on his wife, Eleanor. In 1918, long before he became president, FDR was caug
ht in a web of lies when Eleanor found a stash of love letters. The letters were
between him and a woman named Lucy Mercer, whom FDR had hired to be his wife s se
cretary in 1916. Promising never to see her again (as well as sleep in a separat
e bed from then on), FDR convinced Eleanor to stay with him. However, he didn t st
ay away from for Mercer for long, and continued the affair until he died in 1945
; Mercer was actually at his side when he passed, a fact hidden from the public
for some time. Eleanor had already discovered that the two were in cahoots again
, and was decidedly not present at the time of his death.6 Peter The Great5-pete
r-the-great-e1384375980534
Fact: He had the head of his wife s lover placed in a jar.Peter the Great was the
emperor of Russia for over 40 years, beginning in the late 17th century. He s reno
wned for a number of things, including leading a cultural and economic revolutio
n in Russia, which brought them more in line with the rest of Western civilizati
on. He was also an unabashed philanderer who would squeeze the breasts of his wi
fe s ladies-in-waiting, even when she was in the room. However, he couldn t stand it

when she got a little bit of her own action on the side. His wife, Catherine I,
ended up starting a relationship with William Mons, her chamberlain and the bro
ther of Peter s first mistress. When the affair was discovered, Peter accused Mons
of trumped-up bribery charges and had him executed. After the hanging, Peter ha
d the corpse s head removed, preserved in a jar, and placed in Catherine s room as a
morbid reminder of her infidelity.5 Jawaharlal Nehru6- nehru2
Fact: He had an affair with a British viceroy s wife.Jawaharlal Nehru is best know
n as the first Prime Minister of India. He was an extremely influential figure i
n Indian politics, as well as a student of Mahatma Gandhi. His wife died young,
and he remained a widower for the rest of his life, but he later became intimate
ly involved with Edwina Mountbatten, who was the wife of the British viceroy to
India, Lord Louis Mountbatten. The Mountbattens daughter, Pamela Hicks, insists i
t was a platonic relationship even though her mother had a history of extramarital
affairs. Various love letters have been found, leading us to the conclusion tha
t there was indeed a physical aspect to their relationship. It was well known by
the public that the two were in love; in fact, it was such a publicized affair
that Nehru s opposition party had the following slogan: Break open Rama s heart, you
will find Sita [a revered figure in Hinduism] written on it; break open Nehru s he
art, you will find Lady Mountbatten written on it. 4 William S. Burroughs7- Willia
m_S_Burroughs
Photo Credit: Christiaan Tonnis
Fact: He killed his common-law wife while drunk.One of the most innovative and c
ulturally relevant American authors of the 20th century, William S. Burroughs wa
s once involved in a deadly accident with his common-law wife, Joan Vollmer. The
two began living together in 1944 and had a son together in 1947, and both were
heavily into drugs. One night, in 1951, Burroughs and Vollmer were partying in
Mexico City and decided to play a drunken game of William Tell. She balanced a gla
ss on her head and Burroughs took aim with a pistol. He fired, but the shot miss
ed the glass and tore through Vollmer s forehead instead, killing her. Burroughs s
pent 13 days in jail, until his brother bribed Mexican officials to let him out
on bail. He eventually fled the country, returned to the United States, and was
convicted in absentia of negligent homicide and given a suspended prison sentenc
e (which he never served).3 Caravaggio8- Michelangelo_Caravaggio_023
Photo Credit: The Yorck Project
Fact: He murdered a pimp over a prostitute.Caravaggio was an extremely popular I
talian artist in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. He was very gifted with
the brush but also had an anger problem, which led to his frequent brushes with
the law. However, it was a pimp named Ranuccio Tomassoni who faced the brunt of
his wrath when a dispute arose over Fillide Melandroni, a prostitute whom both
men wished to sleep with. Originally believed to be a fight over a tennis match,
new information has uncovered the truth behind the accident which led to Tomass
oni s death. Due to the sexual nature of their conflict, Caravaggio was trying to
castrate his victim, intending to leave him alive. Unfortunately, the painter di
dn t really know much about anatomy and accidentally killed Tomassoni by severing
his femoral artery. Even though it was a duel set up ahead of time, Caravaggio w
as charged with murder. He fled, first to Malta and later a small town in Italy,
where he remained until his death.2 Thomas Jefferson9-jefferson-e1384376436340
Fact: He was really bad at keeping promises.By now, everyone is familiar with th
e story of Thomas Jefferson and his slave mistress, Sally Hemings. Lesser known,
however, is the tale of Jefferson and Nancy Hemings, Sally s half sister. In orde
r to settle a debt for his sister, Anna, Jefferson sold Nancy and her children t
o his new brother-in-law.When the brother-in-law turned around and tried to sell
Nancy and her children separately, Nancy begged Jefferson to buy the three of t
hem back. Jefferson promised her that he would but, when the time came, he only
bought Nancy and her daughter he refused to buy her son, intentionally separating
him from his mother. Even worse, he never really intended to listen to Nancy in
the first place, and almost didn t purchase her daughter, writing: I would not purc
hase the boy; as to the youngest child, if she insists on it, and my sister desi
res it, I would take it. His behavior was not rare, as it was common practice at
the time for slave families to only be kept together until the kids reached 12;

at that age, they were no longer considered children and were often separated fr
om their parents. It was a tough time for slaves, and for all of Jefferson s appar
ent morality, he was right in the thick of it.1 Voltaire10-voltaire-e13843764875
28
Fact: He was a staunch anti-Semite.One of the brightest and best of the Enlighte
nment writers, Voltaire is best known for his satires and his biting wit. He esp
oused freedom of expression and religion but, unfortunately, that didn t extend to
the Jews. Perhaps due to his education as a Jesuit, Voltaire harbored a resentm
ent of established religion Christianity included but hated the idea of the Old Test
ament, which he considered to be nothing more than a collection of myths. When r
eferring to the Jews, he said they were as adept in turning fables into history a
s they were in turning secondhand clothes into new ones. However, perhaps ironica
lly, he is seen by some modern historians as a sort of unwitting hero for the Je
ws, a man who helped bring people out of the Christian fervor which led to much
of the anti-Semitism of his day.