All About Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte was one of the greatest conquerers the world has ever seen. He was an educated man and an outstanding military leader. If you’re going to war, Napoleon is at the top of a short list of people you want leading your army. Napoleon was born on the island of Corsica and became a French lieutenant at the young age of 16. Continue on for more interesting facts about Napoleon Bonaparte.
Fact #1 - Napoleon Bonaparte stood a mere 5′6″ tall (by English standards) or 5′2″ (by French Standards).
While today 5′6″ may seem short for a man, it was a respectable height for a man in the 18th century. Some people say he was ridiculed by classmates and friends for being short. It’s hard to say if that is true or not. Regardless, Napoleon got them best of them later on in his life. It is also said that he surrounded himself with very tall guards and wore high boots, maybe to make himself appear as tall as one of them.
Fact #2 - Napoleon invaded Russia with 650,000 French troops but was defeated and returned to France with only 40,000 troops.
A loss of over 500,000 troops is an astonishing number. Not all the troops were lost in battle though. The bitter Russia winter caused many of the troops to freeze to death or die of starvation.
Fact #3 - Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled on more then one occasion.
In the Treaty of Fontainebleau the victors exiled him to Elba, a small island in the Mediterranean 20 km off the coast of Italy. After his abdication Napoleon attempted to commit suicide by taking poison from a vial he had always carried. However the poison had weakened with age and he survived to be deported to Elba. In his exile, he ran Elba as a little country.
After his return to France, and later defeat… Napoleon was exiled again. This time to St. Helena, a small island in the South Atlantic. St. Helena would ultimately be his last home before death.
Fact #4 - Napoleon was responsible for the invention of canned goods.
Napoleon’s armies were away from home for so long that most of the food they would travel with would spoil. He sent out a notice to all the nation’s top inventors offering a large monetary prize to anyone who could come up with a way to preserve food for a long period of time. This led to the invention of canned food.
