26Empress Theodora
The Byzantine Empress Theodora began her life as an actress of ill repute in the hippodrome and was even rumored to perform shows where geese would eat barley off her naked body in front of thousands of people.
27. Despite Napoleon divorcing Joséphine de Beauharnais so he could have an heir, his first wife Josephine is the ancestor of five of the current royal houses of Europe. Napoleon is the ancestor of none.
28. The Chevalier d'Éon, a French diplomat and spy, appeared publicly as male for 49 years but once infiltrated the court of Empress Elizabeth of Russia by posing as a woman. In 1777, he began dressing publicly as a woman and claimed to be female.
29. Razia Sultana was the first and last female ruler of Delhi Sultanate. She dressed like a man and sat in open durbar.
30. In 1550s, Catherine de' Medici of France was so disgusted by women with "thick waists", she enforced a ban on them from her court. This lead to the widespread use of the corset throughout western civilization for the next 350 years.
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31Spinach
In 1533, when Catherine de' Medici became queen of France; she was so fancied by spinach, she insisted it to be served at every meal. To this day, dishes made with spinach are known as "Florentine", reflecting Catherine's birth in Florence.
32. Underneath the surface of Egyptian Queen Nefertiti's bust is a sculpture of an older and more wrinkly Nefertiti.
33. The ancient Roman empress Valeria Messalina liked to work on the side as a prostitute, and won a competition with other prostitutes to see who could take more men.
34. The Queen's actual title is "Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith".
35. In Han China, a rival concubine was tortured by Empress Lu Zhi by having her limbs, tongue, and eyes removed. She was then locked in a latrine to live the rest of her days as a "Human Swine."
36Gilles de Rais
Under the Russian empress Elizaveta, there were literally a fashion police.
37. In 1895, Empress Myeongseong of Korea was murdered and had her corpse burned by 20 Japanese agents. A Russian architect made an eyewitness account.
38. There is a cargo cult named Prince Philip Movement of the Yaohnanen tribe in Vanuatu that worships the Queen's Elizabeth II's husband, Prince Phillip.
39. Claudia Octavia was an empress of Ancient Rome. Her father (Emperor Claudius) executed her mother, her step-mother assassinated her father, her step-brother/husband (Emperor Nero) assassinated her brother and step-mother, and then she was executed by her step-brother/husband.
40. The famous Hawaiian song "Aloha 'Oe" was written by the last Queen of Hawai'i, Liliuokalani, who transcribed it while imprisoned after a coup that ultimately led to Hawaii's annexation into the U.S.
41Queen Isabella
The rules of chess were changed in the 15th-century to reflect the accomplishments of Queen Isabella.
42. Queen Isabella, who funded Columbus' voyage, claimed to have taken bath only twice in her lifetime.
43. China's Guangxu Emperor (died. 1908) was probably poisoned by Dowager Empress Cixi. The level of arsenic in his body was 2000 times higher than normal.
44. The Emperor and Empress of Japan are transported in a specially made Toyota Century Royal.
45. In 2012, a Manchester couple jokingly invited Queen Elizabeth to their wedding. The Queen accepted and made an appearance along with Prince Philip.
46René Descartes
The French philosopher and mathematician René Descartes was hired as a tutor by Queen Christina, who insisted on philosophy lessons at 5 in the morning. Within a year of walking through the Swedish cold every morning, Descartes caught pneumonia and died.
47. In 1589, John Stubbs was sentenced by Queen Elizabeth to have his hand severed for seditious writing, and before the axe fell, he cried out, "My calamity is at hand!" - thus becoming the only known victim of Elizabeth to incorporate a pun at his dismemberment. He then fainted.
48. When Peter the Great found his wife had a lover he had the man beheaded, then forced her to keep her lover’s head in a jar of alcohol in her bedroom which stood in Catherine's bedroom till Peter's death.
49. Boudica, a Celtic queen in 60 A.D. led an uprising against the Romans, razing three cities and killing 80,000 Romans. This was revenge for Rome annexing her kingdom after her husband died, flogging her publicly and ordering her daughters raped. Rome needed more than 3 legions to subdue her.
50. Sunandha Kumariratana, queen of Thailand, drowned as her subjects looked on because they were forbidden to touch her.
