Charles Dickens Was Obsessed With His Hair
Public Domain
Victorian writer Charles Dickens probably had undiagnosed Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). When he wasn’t writing about abysmal industrial conditions, Dickens preoccupied himself with his appearance, and would comb his hair hundreds of times per day. He also had a ritual of touching objects three times and was meticulous about how he arranged his office.
Dickens’ compulsions, however, did not keep him from becoming one of the most prolific writers in English literature. Nor did it stop him from coining many new terms for the English language, including “butter finger”, “crossfire,” and “dustbin.”
Leonardo Da Vinci Was An Extraordinary Animal Lover
Wikimedia Commons
Renaissance man Leonardo da Vinci would have made a great spokesperson for PETA. The outspoken scientist, animal lover, and vegetarian (maybe vegan) would even buy caged birds in his city of Florence just to set them free.
Biographer Edward McCurdy, for one, discussed da Vinci’s veganism in his book, The Mind of Leonardo da Vinci. In a letter sent by Italian explorer Andrea Corsali to the co-ruler of Florence, Giuliano de Medici, Corsali mentions an Indian people called the Gujerats who would not eat anything that caused suffering to a living creature — “Like our Leonardo da Vinci,” Corsali wrote.
Although Da Vinci indeed didn’t eat animals, almost every animal rights group under the sun has nevertheless falsely attributed a popular quote about veganism to the artist. “The time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look upon the murder of men,” the quote reads. However, this line actually comes from Dimitri Merejkowski’s fictional novel, The Romance of Leonardo da Vinci.
Read on to learn more about the complicated life stories of John Lennon, Roald Dahl, and Steve Jobs.
