37 Epic Facts About Napoleon Bonaparte | Legacy Facts

37 Epic Facts About Napoleon Bonaparte

# Napoleon Bonaparte was born in Ajaccio, on Corsica's Mediterranean Island, on 15 August 1769.

# Napoleon was known by the nickname 'Nabulio' to his family when he was a child.

# Napoleon was very good at math as a child but had poor social skills and he was very domineering.

# Napoleon always spoke French with a Corsican accent, and never properly learned to write French.

# Napoleon was superstitious and believed in the concept of omens, demons, and luck.

# In fact, Napoleon Bonaparte was an average male height of 5'7′′ at the time, and his "shortness" was propaganda used by the British that is still believed today.

# His first wife was Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de La Pagerie but she was called Josephine by Napoleon.

# All his meals were eaten in silence and quickly.

# Roast chicken with fried potatoes and onions was Napoleon's favorite.

# Napoleon was known to be a workaholic and would sleep just 3 or 4 hours a night.

# Napoleon was known to have "Ailurophobia" which means he was afraid of cats.

# When asked whether Napoleon wanted to be God, he thought it over and answered, "No, it's a dead-end job."

# The last words of Napoleon were "France, army, head of the army, Josephine."

# On 5 May 1821, Napoleon Bonaparte died. He is said to have died from stomach cancer.

# He thought that Josephine brought him good luck so he always carried a miniature portrait of her into battle.

# A 'Napoleon' could be a French coin, a type of boot, a cherry variety, or a weapon.

# Russian Czar Alexander I, was so handsome, that Napoleon once remarked, “If he were a woman, I’d make him my mistress.”

# He liked to surround himself with exceedingly tall Elite Guard soldiers, which might have led to a short appearance.

# In case of defeat, the French emperor Napoleon kept poison around his neck. It had lost its strength when he finally used it in 1814, and only left him terribly sick.

# When Napoleon emancipated the Jews, he said, "I will never accept any proposals that will force the Jewish people to leave France because I believe that the Jews are the same as every other citizen of our country."

# In 1795 Napoleon wrote Clisson et Eugenie, a romantic novel. It remained unpublished until 1920.

# Naming a pig after Napoleon is illegal in France.

# Napoleon Bonaparte felt that torture should be eliminated because it is useless to the information obtained from it.

# The grief of a dog that he found sitting with the body of his owner once moved Napoleon Bonaparte to tears.

# Often, he would dress in poor clothes and walk around the streets of Paris asking people questions. He could, therefore, determine just how popular he was.

# Napoleon ordered 10 days of nationwide mourning in France when George Washington died in 1799.

# The Turk, a fake chess-playing machine that actually had an individual hidden inside it, was famously beaten Napoleon in chess. Napoleon didn't know that though.

# Napoleon built a fort in the Atlantic Ocean only to be used in the 90s for a game show.

# It was the Napoleon army which used canned food for the first time.

# Napoleon wanted a communication system that wouldn't require either light or sound. 'Night Writing' was developed as a tactile military code but proved too difficult to learn and was rejected by Napoleon's troops. Night writing was the foundation for braille.

# In Europe, Napoleon introduced mandatory right-hand traffic with the aim of preventing sword fighting on horseback, and because the traditional left-hand traffic was seen as aristocratic. Since he never conquered Britain, there would remain left-hand driving.

# A favorite lieutenant of Napoleon, Marshal Michel Ney, was given permission to order the firing squad to fire at his execution. Ney told to his men, “Wait for the order. It will be my last to you.”

# Napoleon considered converting himself and his army to Islam in order to help conquer Egypt but decided against it because the French troops would not stand for abstinence from alcohol.

# Currently Napoleon's penis is in New Jersey. The doctor performing his autopsy had it removed from his body and a priest smuggled it.

# Louisiana is the only State in the United States to base its legal system on Napoleon's French law. Students of Louisiana Law may choose to study either American Law or the Louisiana Civil Code.

# Napoleon’s son, Napoleon II, was King of Rome, Prince of Parma, and Duke of Reichstadt. His ashes were given to France by Hitler as a gift.

# A lock of Napoleon 's hair was sold at an auction in London in 1996, for £3,680. A lock from the hair of the Duke of Wellington fetched only £598.

If you are interested then check out our "Facts About Adolf Hitler"

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