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Commanders of the Legion of Honour

  • Pierre-Auguste RenoirPierre-Auguste Renoir painted the portrait of the composer Richard Wagner in just thirty-five minutes. It was the 15th of January 1882, and Wagner received…
  • Claude François de MaletClaude François de Malet walked out of house arrest on the night of the 23rd of October 1812, dressed in a general's uniform, carrying forged documents, and…
  • Clint EastwoodClinton Eastwood Jr. entered the world at Saint Francis Memorial Hospital in San Francisco on the 31st of May, 1930, weighing 11 pounds 6 ounces.
  • Bill GatesBill Gates was born on the 28th of October, 1955, in Seattle, Washington, and by age 31 he had become the world's youngest-ever billionaire.
  • Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl WavellArchibald Wavell lost his left eye at the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915, and he spent the next three decades commanding armies across some of the most…
  • Esther DufloEsther Duflo was born on the 25th of October 1972 in Paris, and by the age of 46 she had become the youngest person ever to win the Nobel Memorial Prize in…
  • Arnold SchwarzeneggerArnold Alois Schwarzenegger arrived in the United States in October 1968 at age 21, speaking little English and carrying little money.
  • Jean CocteauJean Cocteau called himself a poet, and only a poet, even after he had written novels, staged plays, drawn erotica, and directed films that critics still…
  • Jules RimetJules Rimet crossed the Atlantic in 1930 carrying a trophy in his bag. No guards, no ceremony; just a French football administrator on a steamship called the…
  • Jean GiraudouxJean Giraudoux died in Paris on the 31st of January 1944, at the age of 61, under circumstances that have never been fully explained.
  • Ravi ShankarRavi Shankar was "horrified." At the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, he watched Jimi Hendrix set fire to his guitar on stage.
  • Georges Ernest BoulangerGeorges Ernest Boulanger was born on the 29th of April 1837 in Rennes, Brittany. He entered the Saint-Cyr Military Academy in 1855 and graduated to join the…