Did you know that to this day it is illegal to name a pig “Napoleon” in France? These are 25 interesting things you didn’t know about Napoleon Bonaparte.
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25
His parents and close acquaintences called him by his nickname, Nabulio
24
Perhaps not surprisingly, as a child he was very good at math but had aweful social skills and was very domineering
23
It was suggested by his teachers that he join the military
22
It was known that Napoleon had “Ailurophobia”, meaning he was afraid of cats.
21
He is famous for his allegedly short stature, however he was about 1.70 m, an average height during those times
20
The reason for the confusion could have been because the height recorded on his death was 5 ft 2 in French units...which translates to about 5 foot 6 today
19
He also liked to surround himself with extremely tall soldiers from the Elite Guard which could have contributed to a short appearance
18
It is still illegal to this day for anyone to name a pig Napoleon in France
17
For this reason, if you read the book Animal Farm in French, the pig will be named Cesar instead of Napoleon
16
For most of history, traffic kept to the left side of road. According to historians, Napoleon, for whatever reason, played a crucial role in shifting that paradigm throughout Europe
15
Well, at least everywhere except the UK, which he never conquered
14
Napoleon was famously beaten in chess by the Turk, a fake chess playing machine that actually had a person hiding inside of it. Napoleon didn't know that though.
13
He would often dress in poor clothes and walk the streets of Paris asking people questions. This way he could judge how popular he was.
12
His wife's real name was Marie Josephe Rose Tascher de la Pagerie
11
Napoleon didn't like it so he renamed her Josephine
10
She had two children from a previous marriage and her daughter ended up marrying Napoleon's brother on his request
9
He thought that Josephine brought him good luck so he always carried a portrait miniature of her into battle
8
Napoleon's last words were "France, army, head of the army, Josephine"
7
It was Napoleon's army that first used canned foods
6
For whatever reason it was said that he had an acute sense of smell
5
He also apparently was terrified of open doors. Anybody entering the room had to squeeze through a barely adequate opening and then close the door immediately
4
All of his meals were eaten quickly and in silence
3
His favorite was roast chicken with fried potatoes and onions
2
It has been said that he was a workaholic and he would only sleep 3 or 4 hours per night
1
Napoleon allegedly wore a packet of poison on a cord around his neck. When he finally went to use it in 1814 it had lost its potency and only succeeded in making him violently ill
