History

Napoleon Bonaparte was no Danny Devito. After his death in 1821, the French emperor's height was recorded as 5 feet 2 inches in French feet. This corresponds to 5 feet 6.5 inches in modern international feet, or 1.686 metres, making him slightly taller than an average Frenchman of the 19th century (btw, Danny Devito is 5').

Also, his nickname, "le petit caporal", adds to the confusion, as non-francophones mistakenly take petit literally as meaning "small"; in fact, it is an affectionate term reflecting on his camaraderie with ordinary soldiers.

Now, just because Napoleon wasn't a munchkin doesn't mean he didn't have an inferiority complex. It turns out--get this!--along with also having numerous other ailments I won't mention here, Napoleon was cursed with what doctors call a "micro-penis".  Yep, you heard me.

According to Nicholas Hobbes's Essential Militaria: Facts, Legends and Curiosities About Warfare Through the Ages, Napoleon had a "one inch long penis resembling a grape". Wait, it gets weirder. Supposedly the dictator's organ was cut off at autopsy and eventually put up for auction by Christie's in 1972. As you might imagine, the auction failed to reach the reserve price.

Lord knows what the seller really wanted for it. I'm just glad nobody bought it. My opinion of wealthy, artistocratic antiquarians is bad enough without thinking that one of them has the little dictator's tiny package sitting atop a mantle somewhere.

Revere was not the only colonist to warn the Minute Men of the British invasion. He was joined by William Dawes and a doctor named Samuel Prescott who happen to be in Lexington at the time. Revere and Dawes rode to Lexington to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock. It was in Lexington were they met up with Dr. Prescott and then sped on toward Concord. Nearing Concord, Revere, Dawes and Prescott were stopped by British troops in Lincoln. Prescott and Dawes escaped, but Revere was detained, questioned and then escorted at gunpoint by three British officers back to Lexington. Of the three riders, only Prescott arrived at Concord in time to warn the militia there.

The story of Paul Revere is largely based on the poem "Paul Revere's Ride", written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in 1860. In his poem, Longfellow took many liberties with the events of the evening, most especially giving sole credit to Revere for the collective achievements of the three riders (as well as the other riders whose names do not survive to history).