George Frideric Handel had a volcanic temper. He was nearly killed in a swordfight when he was eighteen (nearly 40 years before he composed Messiah) and once threatened to throw a recalcitrant soprano out of a second-story window unless she agreed to sing an aria the way he wanted her to.

Franz Liszt was music's first superstar. More than a century before Beatlemania, Lisztomania swept across Europe and inspired many of the same feelings among middle-aged women that the Beatles would later induce among pre-teen and teenage girls.

Genghis Khan established one of the world's largest empires with an army that was considerably smaller than the combined British and American forces that splashed ashore at Normandy.

When Julius Caesar was kidnapped by pirates as a young man, he was insulted by their ransom demand and told them to nearly triple it.

Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle (at nearly 20 hours, the world's longest opera) bears many striking similarities to The Lord of the Rings.

Nero couldn't have fiddled while Rome burned. The fiddle, or violin, wasn't invented until many centuries after Nero's death.

Irving Berlin, who wrote "God Bless America," the song that became the unofficial national anthem in the wake of 9/11, was himself the victim of a terrorist attack. Berlin, a Jew, also wrote "White Christmas," the most popular holiday song, and his only son died on Christmas day.

The attack on Pearl Harbor was not only the worst mistake that Japan made during World War II but was also a strategic failure because it concentrated on the wrong targets.

One of "crimes" of which Joan of Arc was convicted and sentenced to burn at the stake was wearing men's clothing.

John R. Pierce, the "father of the communications satellite," regularly risked his life as a young man by flying gliders and later became well-known as a writer of scientific fiction and composer of computer music in addition to his technological prowess.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair was nearly kicked out of school as a teenager and soon afterward became the lead singer in a rock band.

Many people believe that Charlemagne's mother Bertrada, whose large feet earned her the nickname of "Queen Goosefoot," was the model for the popular Mother Goose stories.

The audience at the 1913 premiere of Igor Stravinsky's ballet The Rite of Spring nearly rioted. Its members spat at each other, yelled insults, booed or cheered at the top of their lungs, picked fights, threw things at the stage and much more. The noise level was so high that the dancers couldn't hear the music. Several people were arrested.

As a boy, Benjamin Franklin loved to swim and even invented a primitive form of swim fins.

Maggots and leeches, in common use during the time of Hippocrates (often called the "Father of Medicine") more than two millennia ago, were recently certified by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use by modern-day medical practitioners.

Giuseppe Verdi may be the greatest operatic composer of all time—yet the prestigious Milan Conservatory of Music wouldn't admit him. Its officials said he was "lacking in musical talent."

Composer Hector Berlioz fell in love with actress Harriet Smithson when he saw her on stage. She spurned his advances. He sought revenge by composing the Symphonie Fantastique, in which the hero murders his beloved and is executed for his crime. Years later, Berlioz did marry Harriet. It was a disaster.

Scientist John Dalton, who formulated the atomic theory, founded his own school when he was just twelve. Some of his students were older than he was and often challenged him to fistfights.

James Watt, whose improvements to existing steam engines led to the Industrial Revolution in Britain, called himself a "lunatic." He didn't mean that he was crazy. Rather, he was a member of the Lunar Society. It was a group of learned men who met every month when there was a full moon. That way there was enough light for them to go home safely.

A sewing machine was the inspiration for Louis Lumiere's invention of the first practical motion picture camera.

July and August are named for Julius Caesar and his grand-nephew Augustus Caesar. August originally had 30 days. Augustus quickly demanded an extra day for "his month." That way it would be the same length as his grand-uncle's.