Author Topic: History’s Most Eccentric People  (Read 2348 times)

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History’s Most Eccentric People
« on: April 02, 2016, 05:21:43 PM »

Mad, Bad And Totally Loony: History’s Most Eccentric People

By Radu Alexander
April 5, 2015


Source: The Best Picture Project

Eccentricity is a loosely-defined term. Sure, it describes odd behavior, but who’s to say what’s normal and what’s not? We all have our own quirks and it’s those quirks that make us interesting. Luckily for us, history is full of eccentric people who’ve always kept us guessing.


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Re: History’s Most Eccentric People
« Reply #1 on: April 02, 2016, 05:22:39 PM »

1. John “Mad Jack” Mytton

John Mytton inherited a huge sum of money and a giant estate at a young age, allowing him to indulge all of his eccentric tendencies. For starters, he was a massive drunk who enjoyed between six to eight bottles of port each day. He drank so much that upon his death, one of Mytton’s friends claimed that he had spent the last 12 years of his life inebriated.


Source: The Study

Jack came from a long line of aristocrats who were involved in politics. Wanting to follow in the family tradition, Mytton secured a seat as a Tory MP by offering voters £10 notes. Once he was elected, Mytton attended one 30-minute meeting in the House of Commons before getting bored, leaving and never returning again. This occurred after he spent £10,000 (over $1,000,000 today) to get elected in the first place.


The gag ended when the bear bit off a chunk of Mytton’s leg. Source: Rogues Gallery

Two bizarre stories involving Mad Jack deserve a mention here. One involved Mytton setting his nightshirt on fire because he wanted to cure his hiccups. The other involved him showing up at his own dinner party dressed in full hunting gear and riding a bear called Nell. Mytton was actually an avid hunter, though he preferred hunting completely naked—even during winter.


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Republic Act 8485 (Animal Welfare Act of 1998, Philippines), as amended and strengthened by House  Bill 6893 of 2013--- violation means a maximum of P250,000 fine with a corresponding three-year jail term and a minimum of P30,000 fine and six months imprisonment

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Re: History’s Most Eccentric People
« Reply #2 on: April 02, 2016, 05:24:08 PM »

2. Caroline Prodgers

The name Prodgers might not mean anything today, but in 19th-century London it was a terror to all cabmen. Cries of “Mother Prodgers” made cab drivers run for the hills, because Mrs. Giacometti Prodgers was a Victorian aristocrat who really, really hated cabbies. Like many eccentric people, her oddities made her less likable.


Source: Flickr

Nobody knows what caused her utter disdain for cab drivers, but Mrs. Prodgers took great pleasure in taking cabbies to court. She did this by thoroughly memorizing London’s fare map and always knowing precisely how much she had to pay, down to the last penny. Mrs. Prodgers often made cabbies stop right before they could charge her the full fare, and if any of them dared to travel that extra yard, she would take them to court. For 20 years she kept up this insanity, victimizing more than 50 cabbies.


Her name struck fear in the hearts of all cabmen. Source: Horses and History

Unsurprisingly, this behavior made Prodgers notorious in Victorian London. Cabbies warned each other by shouting “Mother Prodgers” when they saw her coming, and she was satirized in newspapers and caricatures. Even judges were annoyed with Mrs. Prodgers, suggesting that she should buy her own carriage since she could clearly afford it. On Bonfire Night, cabbies burned her in effigy. Even her obituary mentioned her borderline-psychotic behavior: “Mrs. Giacometti Prodgers, the terror of London cabmen, is dead.”


Famed explorer, Sir Richard Francis Burton, was one of her only friends and often indulged her lunacy, even giving her advice on court proceedings. Source: iDNES


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Republic Act 8485 (Animal Welfare Act of 1998, Philippines), as amended and strengthened by House  Bill 6893 of 2013--- violation means a maximum of P250,000 fine with a corresponding three-year jail term and a minimum of P30,000 fine and six months imprisonment

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Re: History’s Most Eccentric People
« Reply #3 on: April 02, 2016, 05:32:48 PM »

3. Stanley Weyman

When Stanley Weyman said “One man’s life is a boring thing. I lived many lives. I’m never bored,” he really meant it. Over the course of his life, he assumed many identities and careers. Under different circumstances, Weyman might have been considered a fraud or a con man, but he never did it for the money; he was in it for the adventure.


Source: The Memory Palace

Weyman’s career as an impostor started in 1910 in New York. Just 20 years old, Weyman pretended to be a US consul to Morocco before getting arrested for fraud. His “credentials” also included serving as a foreign doctor, both Navy and Army lieutenants, a consul for Romania, the personal physician of Rudolph Valentino’s widow, a journalist for the United Nations and even the Secretary of State.

Weyman’s crowning achievement came in 1921 when he posed as a State Department Liaison Officer to Princess Fatima of Afghanistan. She wanted an official reception from the U.S. government, but the real State Department was mostly ignoring her. Weyman apologized on their behalf and asked for $10,000 (which he received) in order to “grease the wheels”. While most con artists would flee, Weyman actually used that money to treat the princess and her entourage like royalty, securing first-class transport and accommodations in Washington D.C..


Princess Fatima during her stay in D.C.. Weyman’s to her left. Source: Brooklyn Magazine

Weyman dropped the right names at the State Department and managed to set up a meeting between the princess and the Secretary of State. Working his way up the chain, Weyman even got President Warren Harding to receive the princess. In the end, Weyman was sentenced to two years in prison for the stunt, but like many eccentric people he expressed no regrets.

Stanley Weyman died in 1960 trying to stop a robbery at a New York hotel.

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Republic Act 8485 (Animal Welfare Act of 1998, Philippines), as amended and strengthened by House  Bill 6893 of 2013--- violation means a maximum of P250,000 fine with a corresponding three-year jail term and a minimum of P30,000 fine and six months imprisonment

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Re: History’s Most Eccentric People
« Reply #4 on: April 02, 2016, 05:40:13 PM »

4. Hetty Green

Nicknamed “The Witch of Wall Street,” Hetty Green was considered to be the richest woman in America during the Gilded Age. Although this wasn’t an official title, her wealth was estimated somewhere around $3.8 billion in today’s money. Despite Hetty’s success as a businesswoman and financier, it is her reputation as a miser that lives on. Hetty Green was so stingy that she made Scrooge look like the world’s greatest philanthropist.


Source: Venture Galleries

Green’s lust for money started at a young age. When Hetty’s rich aunt died, she left $2 million to charity. Outraged at this notion, Hetty produced an older will which claimed that the money was to be distributed to her. The testament also featured a clause which invalidated all subsequent wills. While the will might have been genuine, the clause turned out to be a forgery.


Hetty separated from her husband when the bank started using her money as if it were his. Source: New York Times

Due to the number of rumors surrounding Hetty’s stinginess, it’s hard to distinguish fact from fiction. Some say that Hetty worked out of trunks kept at the bank to avoid renting an office. Others say that Hetty did have an office where she occasionally slept to save on heating her apartment. She also supposedly wore the same black outfit every day until it wore out, and avoided luxury items such as heat, hot water and soap at all cost (pun intended).


Hetty and her daughter, Sylvia. Source: 27east

Hetty’s most infamous case of miserliness came when her son, Ned, broke his leg. In order to save on medical bills, Hetty took him to a free clinic and pretended to be homeless. Eventually, she was recognized and forced to pay for medical treatment. According to the story, Hetty ran away and treated her son’s leg herself. However, her biographer maintained that she did pay her bill and took Ned to other doctors. Either way, it was too late; Ned’s leg had to be amputated.


Ned Green celebrating his 65th birthday. Source: The Gilded Age Era

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Republic Act 8485 (Animal Welfare Act of 1998, Philippines), as amended and strengthened by House  Bill 6893 of 2013--- violation means a maximum of P250,000 fine with a corresponding three-year jail term and a minimum of P30,000 fine and six months imprisonment

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Re: History’s Most Eccentric People
« Reply #5 on: April 02, 2016, 05:46:45 PM »

5. John “Mad Jack” Churchill

Being eccentric isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, sometimes the exact opposite is true. Take Mad Jack Churchill, for example. He was a British officer in World War II and his weapon of choice was a Scottish broadsword, as he felt that “any officer who goes into action without his sword is improperly dressed”. Churchill also carried a longbow (he supposedly holds the record for the last bow-and-arrow wartime killing), along with a set of bagpipes which were used to…inspire his troops.


Source: Wikipedia

Churchill was eventually captured by the Germans during a dangerous mission that took place behind enemy lines. The enemy spared his life initially, mistakenly believing that Churchill was a relative of the Prime Minister. Once Churchill’s true identity was discovered, Hitler’s order was to execute immediately. Fortunately for Mad Jack, Captain Hans Thorner—the German commander of the concentration camp—disagreed with Hitler and disobeyed the order, saving Churchill’s life.


Jack was actually a skilled archer. Source: Badass of the Week

After being transferred out of the camp, Mad Jack wrote Thorner a thank-you note. In a serendipitous twist, that letter actually ended up saving Thorner’s life. When the former German officer was tried as a war criminal, the letter—along with Churchill’s willingness to testify in his defense—exonerated the German official. Though he wasn’t the craziest in terms of eccentric people, his quirks made him stand out as a unique officer.


Mad Jack to the far right during training exercises, sword in hand. Source: Wikipedia

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Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=82132.0
Republic Act 8485 (Animal Welfare Act of 1998, Philippines), as amended and strengthened by House  Bill 6893 of 2013--- violation means a maximum of P250,000 fine with a corresponding three-year jail term and a minimum of P30,000 fine and six months imprisonment

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