Читать книгу Hatches, Matches and Despatches - Jenny Paschall - Страница 23

WHEN Pablo Picasso was born, the midwife thought he was stillborn, and left the baby lying on a table. His uncle, who was a doctor, saw the lifeless baby and decided to see if there was anything he could do. He tried mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, and young Pablo took his first breath.

LEONARDO da Vinci, Richard Wagner and Napoleon Bonaparte were all illegitimate.

TWENTY-ONE of the first twenty-three US astronauts who flew in space missions were either only children or firstborn sons, but no president of the US has been an only child.

WINSTON Churchill was born in a ladies’ cloakroom. His mother had been attending a dance at Blenheim Palace when she went into premature labour.

MARK Twain was born in 1835, when Hailey’s Comet appeared. And he died in 1910 – when it made its next appearance. Even more remarkable was his prediction years earlier: ‘I was born when Hailey’s Comet came in, I will die when it comes back. It is fitting that these two freaks of nature should come in together, and go out together.’