Napoleon Bonaparte is still revered for his Intelligence, strong vision and war tactics.
Napoleon Bonaparte is regarded as one of the greatest political leaders ever in the history. He was a French military general who rose to power during the period of French revolution. As an emperor, he led the Napoleonic Wars and went on to dominate several European countries for decades. As an ambitious ruler and skilled strategist, he established a large empire through winning a number of wars against numerous coalitions of European nations. Also, he founded modern French education and created Napoleonic Code which revolutionized the concepts regarding common sense and equality in laws.
Here are some interesting yet lesser-known facts about Napoleon Bonaparte:
Napoleon was born on the island of Corsica, when it had just been in the French power for a year. This is why he always had the Corsican accent which led him get mocked by his classmates in the school in France.
Napoleon got a nickname "The Little Corporal" as he was of short height and used to surround himself with tall soldiers. However, he was of the average stature of European at that time.
While Napoleon is commonly known as a ruthless military leader, he was a soft and romantic person by nature. He wrote numerous letters to his loved ones. Also, he wrote a romantic novella named 'Clisson et Eugenie' in 1795 before marrying Joséphine, at the age of 26. It got published in 1920. He also authored a book on Julius Caesar.
He married Joséphine de Beauharnais in 1796, but later divorced her as she couldn't produce a child. Later, Napoleon married the archduchess of Austria, Marie Louise.
According to some historians, Napoleon had a photographic memory. He could remember every little information regarding his army.
Bonaparte was superstitious in the truest sense of the term. He had strong belief in the concept of luck, as well as paranormal activities including ghosts, demons and omens. He considered 2nd December as lucky day and Friday and the number 13 as unlucky.
During the Egyptian campaign in 1799, the army of Napoleon discovered the Rosetta Stone. It's a granite slab inscribed in hieroglyphic, demotic, and ancient Greek languages. The stone later helped significantly to decode the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.
He often used to disguise himself as bourgeois and roam around the streets of Paris. Thus, he interacted with the common men in order to get an idea of his image among them.
It is believed that Napoleon suffered from Ailurophobia which refers to the fear of cats. However, there's not enough evidence to support this statement.
It's still not clear how Napoleon died. Some believe that he was murdered with arsenic poisoning, while others believe that he died due to stomach cancer.
