Bet You Didn’t Know This About Tesla

History tends to remember world leaders and brilliant inventors for their grand achievements, but if you look closer, you’ll see that some of them had eccentric hangups. It’s actually quite comforting to realize that the people who shaped our civilization had their own bizarre little rituals and peculiar interests that kept them occupied behind closed doors. With that in mind, here are 20 famous figures and their strange obsessions.

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1. Augustus Caesar and His Fear of Lightning

Augustus Caesar feared lightning strikes so much that he wore a piece of sealskin as a talisman against them at all times. He would even bolt into an underground bunker during thunderstorms to avoid being struck. Hard to picture someone who created such a vast empire being scared of electricity.

Clemens van Lay on Unsplash

2. Nikola Tesla’s Fixation on the Number Three

The inventor would walk around the exterior of buildings three times before entering them and demanded that napkins be folded in groups of eighteen. He suffered from severe obsessive-compulsive disorder and would only stay in hotel rooms where the number was divisible by three. Oddly specific requirements for a man who literally pioneered the field of electricity.

Napoleon Sarony on Wikimedia

3. Tycho Brahe and His Pet Moose

A famous Danish astronomer kept a domesticated moose that lived inside his castle and reportedly followed him around like a large dog. This unusual companion met a tragic end when it drank too much at a dinner party and fell down a flight of stairs. You have to wonder how his guests felt about sharing their evening with a massive forest animal.

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4. Salvador Dalí and His Ocelot

Dalí kept many unusual pets throughout his lifetime, but his favorite was a wildcat named Babou. He would walk the ocelot around with him on leashes and into fancy restaurants. He told guests that she was just a plain cat that he had painted spots on when asked about it.

Roger Higgins, World Telegram staff photographer on Wikimedia

5. King George IV's Obsession with Snuff

This British monarch was so deeply invested in powdered tobacco that he reportedly owned over five hundred different snuff boxes throughout his life. He even had a dedicated "snuff room" at his palace where he could experiment with various blends and scents to find the perfect mix. It was a very expensive and dusty hobby for a man who was already known for his extravagant lifestyle.

Thomas Lawrence on Wikimedia

6. Benjamin Franklin’s Air Baths

Ben Franklin would sit shirtless in front of an open window for hours on end as a form of “air bathing.” Most people took showers or baths to clean themselves, but Franklin preferred to just let the air do it for him. Good thing he lived in revolutionary America and not modern-day health-code America.

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7. Catherine the Great and Her Foot Tickling

Russia’s longest-ruling female leader asked that her attendants sing and massage the soles of her feet daily. She found the practice incredibly soothing and would often fall asleep while they entertained her. Not the worst quirk to have.

After Alexander Roslin on Wikimedia

8. Lord Byron’s Menagerie of Animals

Lord Byron brought his pet bear to school because they didn’t explicitly ban animals. He also owned monkeys, peacocks, and a pack of foxes throughout his aristocratic upbringing. Pretty sure Lord Byron broke every single noise complaint in existence.

Richard Westall on Wikimedia

9. Lyndon B. Johnson’s Amphibious Car

The thirty-sixth U.S. President loved to prank unsuspecting guests by driving his car straight into a lake while screaming that the brakes had failed. He didn't tell them the vehicle was actually an Amphicar designed to float and navigate through the water. It was a pretty intense way to show off his sense of humor to his terrified political colleagues.

Arnold Newman on Wikimedia

10. Thomas Jefferson and His Pet Mockingbird

The mockingbird was the President's favorite companion and was often seen perched on Jefferson's shoulder while he worked in the White House. The bird would even follow him up the stairs and hop along beside him during his daily routines. It seems like the author of the Declaration of Independence was actually quite a softie when it came to his feathered friend.

Rembrandt Peale on Wikimedia

11. Michelangelo’s Refusal to Change Clothes

Michelangelo was so passionate about his art that he refused to take a break and change clothes, sometimes for weeks. When he finally did change his shoes, he had developed a bond with them so strong that his skin stuck to the leather. Gross, but kind of amazing.

Attributed to Daniele da Volterra on Wikimedia

12. Queen Victoria’s Mourning Rituals

Queen Victoria would have servants lay her husband’s clothing out each morning and fill his drinking glass with water. She dressed in mourning for the rest of her life and basically turned him into a long-passed pen pal. Devastating.

John Jabez Edwin Mayall on Wikimedia

13. Pythagoras and the Evil Bean

Pythagoras hated beans so much that he commanded his followers never to touch them under any circumstances. He taught that they housed human souls. He also told them that the beans were unhealthy and unsafe to consume.

Allan Gluck on Wikimedia

14. Charles Dickens and His North-Facing Bed

Charles Dickens believed that being in alignment with the magnetic poles of the Earth helped him sleep and write better. He kept a compass with him at all times so he could rotate his bed accordingly. Legend has it he would refuse to sleep if his head wasn’t pointed north.

Computerjoe on Wikimedia

15. Winston Churchill and His Goldfish

The British Prime Minister spent a significant amount of his downtime feeding the fish in his garden ponds at Chartwell. He stated that they were the only living thing that didn’t complain to him or ask for favors. Little hobbies like these really make me respect historical figures more.

US government photographer on Wikimedia

16. Andy Warhol’s Time Capsules

Andy Warhol stuffed boxes with leftovers from his day, like gum wrappers and grocery store ads. He labeled these portals into the past “time capsules” and ended up creating over six hundred of them. They will be opened in forty years, so the future now knows what we ate.

Jack Mitchell on Wikimedia

17. Dr. Seuss and His Hat Collection

Dr. Seuss secretly harbored thousands of hats from around the world in his closet. He would put these bizarre headpieces on when he was having trouble coming up with ideas for stories. Kind of appropriate for the creator of the “Cat in the Hat.”

Al Ravenna on Wikimedia

18. Steve Jobs and His Monochromatic Wardrobe

Steve Jobs made a conscious decision one day not to stress about what he was going to wear that day. He bought so many black turtlenecks that he wore the same outfit everywhere for the rest of his life. Can’t disagree with a business strategy that worked this well.

Gulom Nazarov on Unsplash

19. Henry Cavendish and His Social Anxiety

This brilliant chemist was so terrified of human interaction that he added a separate staircase to his house so he could avoid his own servants. He communicated with his staff almost entirely through written notes. It’s wild to think that one of the men who discovered hydrogen couldn't handle a simple "hello."

George Wilson on Wikimedia

20. Honoré de Balzac’s Coffee Addiction

This French novelist was rumored to drink up to fifty cups of black coffee every day. He often worked for fifteen hours straight and relied on the massive caffeine intake to keep functioning. While it certainly helped him produce a huge amount of literature, his heart probably wasn't too happy about the habit.

Louis-Auguste Bisson on Wikimedia