INTERNATIONAL RULERS

Nicaragua had 396 different leaders in 16 years (1839–55), making each reign only about 14 days.

There were once three presidents in one day in Mexico.

William Pitt, elected in 1783 at the age of 24, was the youngest English Prime Minister ever to hold the position.

Irish president Eamon De Valera was born in the United States.

Louis XIV owned approximately 1,000 wigs.

Teddy Roosevelt died from a tooth and gum infection.

US president John Quincy Adams kept a pet alligator in the White House.

Czar Alexander II of Russia sold Alaska to the USA for $7 million to clear debts accrued from gambling.

Hitler was named ‘Man of the Year’ by Time magazine in 1938.

The first passenger elevator, known as ‘The Flying Chair’ was designed in 1743 for Louis XV of France. He didn’t want to climb the stairs of his private apartments to visit his mistress Madame de Châteauroux. It was no more than a chair on the outside of the building with some weights to create a pulley system.