Caesar

Time and place: 100 - 44 BC, Italy.

Story: Gaius Julius Caesar - one of the most famous rulers in history, the emperor of the Roman Empire.

Interesting facts about Caesar:

1. He opposes the death penalty which was popular those days.
2. Effective fights against pirates who even once captured Caesar before he seized power.
3. Caesar completely occupied Gaul. Noteworthy is the final major battle where the Gauls lost a seven-time numerical superiority.
4. Caesar waged  a civil war to come to power. He forced Pompey (current ruler of Rome) to flee to Egypt where he was killed as a gift to the new ruler. In response to this, Caesar conquered Egypt because he thought that this is wrong to kill the first people of Rome even if they were his enemies.
5. Turned Roman democratic republic in the first empire in the history. He also became the first and lifelong dictator of Rome.
6. He was betrayed and murdered by his friend Brutus, who wanted to return to democracy along with his supporters. He killed him with a knife in the ribs.
7. After Caesar's death, his successor Augustus took into account all the mistakes of the reign of Caesar and was the emperor to 76 years. He was ruthless to enemies, gaining supporters from ordinary families and tried to follow the ideas of democracy even in the face of the monarchy.
8. Later, the name "Caesar" became a household word and it was worn by all the emperors of Rome.

Myths, rumors, legends and versions about Caesar:

1. It was believed that he knew every soldier by name in his armies and knew how to deal with several cases simultaneously. Rather, it is the rumors that swirled around any great leaders throughout history.
2. It was believed that Caesar had a lot of lovers, even mens. He may even been the father of Brutus. All of this were at the level of rumors, so can't be proven. Also, love between men was not considered as a bad thing in ancient times.

Bonnie and Clyde

Time and place: 1930s, USA.

Persons:

1. Clyde Barrow - the head of the gang (shot in the car in 1934).
2. Bonnie Parker - Clyde girlfriend (shot in the car in 1934).
3. In addition to them, there were another 4 people in the band at different times.

Story: A pair of American gangsters who robbed banks, gas stations, shops with their own gang for two years.

Interesting facts about Bonnie and Clyde:

1. There is no reliable information about their perfect love. There is also a version that Clyde was impotent or gay.
2. Before he met Bonnie, Clyde had been in prison five times. There he killed first time.
3. Bonnie was a creative person from the good family and often wrote poetry. Also, she was married and technically didn't broke up with her husband until her death.
4. A lot of people saw them as freedom fighters with rich people in the era of the Great Depression. So they were very popular and loved by the people.
5. However, they were known only in Texas and Louisiana where committed their crimes. World fame came to them after the movie "Bonnie and Clyde" in 1967.
6. Police had found a lot of photos of their band at different times before they were catched. After the publication, Bonnie and Clyde had concealed more carefully.
7. There were 167 bullets in the car, 100 hit the target. The ambush was made by the Texas rangers and police of Louisiana.
8. In 1934, Henry Ford received a letter were Clyde praised his car and promised that he hijacked only them.

Ninja

Time and place: 15th century, Japan.

Story: specially trained spies whose services have been widely used in Japan in the era of Sengoku Jidai.

Interesting facts about the Ninja:

1. Future ninja trained from birth and raised so that all their work were for the benefit of a clan.
2. Ninja could be not only the killers but also (mostly) spies and saboteurs.
3. Across Japan, there were rumors about their superhuman abilities granted to them by the evil forces. Sometimes, Ninjas gave forth these rumors to made people scared.
4. Ninjutsu was opened to the world in 1973. Before that, only Japanese could acquire this knowledge. Same time, Ninjas became very popular in the mass culture.

Myths. misbelieves and versions about the Ninja:

1. They have not thousands of years of history of Ninjutsu. They have appeared in the 15th century and were almost completely destroyed after the unification of Japan (the Tokugawa Shogunate which came to power largely thanks to them afraid that they might topple in the same way).
2. Ninja were the most skilled warriors. It is also a myth. Basically, the ninjas were trained in espionage and in the open and honest battle were much weeker than the common samurai. Ninjutsu is not the martial arts and those skills were soon applied.
3. Ninja dressed all in black. For night operations, it was. Dressed in a white at winter and in the woodland camouflage in forest. Also, from tramp to the monk. Everything depended on the situation.
4. Ninja have killed most of rulers in Japanese history. There are no confirmed cases of the murder of the shogun or daimyo by the hands of a ninja.

Vikings

Location and time: Scandinavia, the early Middle Ages.

History: The Scandinavian nations, previously unknown in the Mediterranean made successful forays into all European countries, the Middle East and North Africa for 3 centuries.

Interesting Facts about the Vikings:

1. The word "Viking" means seafarer.
2. They actively used ships so first created detailed charts. In maritime terminology about 70% of the Scandinavian names.
3. First visited America (east of Canada). There were found Scandinavian cultural objects during excavation.
4. The Vikings have declared themselves in 793 year when raided a Christian monastery on Lindisfarne in Britain. Full-conquest began around the 9th century.
5. Normandy - a region in the north of France named after the Vikings who got this land from King Charles the Simple.
6. The Vikings used nicknames. They could be given for different services, unusual habits and appearance. It is interesting that even the ridiculous nickname could belong to a very authoritative warrior.
7. Vikings considered honorable to engage in poetry.
8. Axes were the most popular weapon. They were easy to create, universal and good in the fight.
9. Vikings not only raided but also used to trade, make alliances and go to mercenaries in other states.

Myths, versions and misconceptions about the Vikings:

1. Armor and weapons of the Vikings in popular culture are often far from reality. Horned helmets, bilateral axes and half-naked warriors never existed.
2. Famous Bjorn and Ragnar are more likely to have never existed in reality. Just the characters of the Scandinavian legends.
3. If Viking survived to old age and had not a chance to die in battle, he ripped stomach, nailed intestine to a tree and ran around until he died. Often mentioned in the sagas but most likely a myth.
4. Only warriors could be rowers on Viking ships. No slaves..