Curated playlist
Historical figures with ambiguous or disputed sexuality
- Leonardo da VinciLeonardo da Vinci wrote most of his notes in mirror-image cursive, right to left.
- Alexander the GreatAt ten, Alexander the Great tamed a horse that his father had ordered taken away.
- Friedrich NietzscheFriedrich Nietzsche's sister edited his writings to fit her own ultranationalist views.
- Sexuality of William ShakespeareIn 1640, a publisher changed most of the male pronouns in Shakespeare's sonnets to female.
- Katharine HepburnKatharine Hepburn bought out her own studio contract after theater owners called her box office poison.
- William III of EnglandWilliam III of England was born eight days after his father died. He was already a prince from his first breath.
- Pope Julius IIPope Julius II told cardinals praising his health, "They are flattering me," and died months later.
- NeroEmperor Nero was crowned winner of a chariot race he did not finish.
- Malcolm XMalcolm X left the Nation of Islam in 1964 and flew to Mecca. There he saw Muslims of all colors treated as equals.
- James BuchananPresident James Buchanan learned the Dred Scott ruling before the public did. A Supreme Court justice leaked it to him.
- Richard I of EnglandWhile scraping together money for a crusade, Richard I of England reputedly declared, "I would have sold London if I could find a buyer." He ruled as king from 1189 until 1199. In all that time he probably spent no more than six months on…
- HadrianWhen Antinous drowned in the Nile, Emperor Hadrian wept, and then founded a city in his honor.
- Christopher MarloweQueen Elizabeth's Privy Council once wrote to Cambridge to make sure Christopher Marlowe got his degree.
- CaligulaEmperor Caligula once rode a horse across a floating bridge more than two miles long.
- Francis BaconFrancis Bacon may have died after stuffing a hen with snow. He wanted to test if cold could preserve meat like salt.
- Henry Stuart, Lord DarnleyLord Darnley was found dead in an orchard after two explosions shook his house. He had been smothered.
- Jack RubyAt 11:21 on Sunday morning, the 24th of November 1963, Jack Ruby stepped out of a crowd of reporters in the basement of Dallas Police Headquarters. Ruby, a Dallas nightclub owner, was holding a revolver. A few feet away stood Lee Harvey…
- ElagabalusElagabalus became Roman emperor at fourteen and was dead before nineteen. His own grandmother arranged his murder.
- Lord MountbattenLord Mountbatten sat alone in his study at the Viceroy's House as midnight arrived on the 15th of August 1947. India and Pakistan were becoming independent nations, and he reflected that for a few minutes more he remained the most powerful…
- T. E. LawrenceT. E. Lawrence wrote that he once crossed the Sinai Peninsula, from Aqaba to the Suez Canal, in just 49 hours without any sleep. His own notebooks say otherwise. The famous camel ride took more than 70 hours and included two long breaks…