Historical Figures (Who Looked Waaaay Different Than You Think)
We all like to look our best, which is why most people can't take a selfie without immediately smashing their phone to dust while whining about bad lighting. And historical figures are certainly no exception (although Stalin's regular cries of "OMG Lavrentiy, delete that!" actually referred to the cameraman and his entire family). As a result, the image you have of many famous people is way more flattering than the reality.
J.P. Morgan Did Everything He Could To Hide His Big Nose
What You Think He Looked Like:
The Monopoly Man? Mr. Burns? An anthropomorphic bank that bleeds money when injured?
What He Actually Looked Like:
While J.P. Morgan is one of the most famous names in American history, you have almost certainly never seen an unedited photograph of him. That's because the financier suffered from a skin condition called rhinophyma, which left him with a huge, knobbly, purple-red nose. His schnoz looked like if Thanos got stung by hate-fueled bees after he killed half their hive. Morgan was so sensitive about his "purple cauliflower" that he had every picture of himself heavily retouched to remove all traces of it. As a result, finding an accurate photo of Morgan at the height of his powers is harder than finding an accurate photo of anyone on Tinder.
Morgan would even complain to newspaper publishers if their cartoonists went too hard at his nose in caricatures, and his employees would warn people not to mention it. When another millionaire dared to call him "Old Livernose," Morgan had him banned from their yacht club, which is the rich guy equivalent of dropping a nuke. And god help you if you tried to take an unauthorized photo of him.
... Another time like that, we mean.
Yep, that is the titan of industry being held back from beating the shit out of a photographer for taking a snap of him on the street. No wonder the guy in the background looks so astonished -- this would be like seeing Bill Gates screaming and waving a tire iron. It might be the first time in history a rich guy needed bodyguards to protect the public from him.
Morgan could have a sense of humor about his appearance, though generally in private and if he brought it up first. He once wryly commented on having "all my riches yet ... this terrible nose," and was very amused on being told not to worry, "as you can never have been very good looking." He also brushed off a proposed surgery, saying "everyone knows my nose" and that kids would laugh at him on the street if he suddenly appeared without it. Although presumably only for a few moments before the caning started.
Related: 6 Things From History Everyone Pictures Incorrectly: Classic
There's No Ambiguity With The Inventor Of The Rorschach Test
What You Think He Looked Like:
A happy butterfly. A cloud. Our ... our parents getting divorced? Dr. Hermann Rorschach invented the inkblot test, the famous psychiatric tool whereby patients are shown ten identical pictures of their high school bully being devoured by Tentacruel. You probably picturing him as a generic German scientist guy, like the therapist from Animaniacs.
What He Actually Looked Like:
Take a deep breath and any recommended heart medications. This is a picture of Hermann Rorschach:
That photo is clearly of a time-traveling Brad Pitt on a mission to prevent World War I by getting all of Europe too horny to assassinate any archdukes. How did this guy ever invent a test requiring his patients to tear their eyes away from him? Did he even manage to find any patients who weren't just glamorous heiresses trying to get five minutes alone with him? It's not ideal when your therapist is constantly missing appointments because he's in a sword fight with a jealous husband on an opera house balcony.
Rorschach sadly passed away in his 30s, shortly after inventing his famous test and before he could blow that out of the water with an even more revolutionary skincare line. Somehow his memory is currently most honored by being the name of our most aggressively sexless fascist antihero. And speaking of smokeshow comic book inspirations ...
Related: 5 Historical Figures You're Picturing Almost Exactly Wrong
Charles Schulz Could Get (Almost) All The Redheaded Women He Wanted
What You Think He Looked Like:
Schulz famously drew on his own life to create Peanuts, so if you picture him as anything, it's probably an adult Charlie Brown. Meaning a globe-skulled sad sack with less style than his own dog. Dude probably had 10 footballs pulled from under his feet every time he left the house.
What He Actually Looked Like:
Schulz was actually a handsome man, in a '50s sitcom dad kind of way. They don't even make jawlines like that anymore; you just can't get the tungsten. Seriously, for a guy with that bone structure to portray himself as Charlie Brown seems like it has to be either historically low self-esteem or some kind of bizarre stolen dork valor. And he actually maintained those looks throughout his life.
But even while looking like a teen idol from before the Beatles invented haircuts, Schulz still had a lot in common with Charlie Brown. He described being a shy and somewhat lonely kid with an unfortunate streak that lasted well into adult life. For example, the "little red-haired girl" Charlie Brown pines after was based on a real crush Schulz had in his 20s. They dated for two years before she turned down his marriage proposal, then got engaged to someone else two weeks later. Which is so brutal that "Good grief!" doesn't seem to cut it.
But that just makes the whole thing more inspirational, in a weird way. Schulz actually remained good friends with his redheaded flame, then went on to a happy marriage and wildly successful career as a cartoonist -- his childhood dream. So remember, kids, no matter how many footballs you miss, you can still grow up to be an extremely handsome, incredibly talented, nationally beloved multimillionaire.
Related: 11 Famous People You Never Realized Were Insanely Hot
Kim Il-sung Had A Giant Growth On His Neck
What You Think He Looked Like:
Our loyal North Korean readership will be familiar with the smiling portrait of Kim that hangs in every school, office, and work camp. The rest of you are auto-generating a sim from a mental file marked "Korean jumpsuit guy." And you're both wrong.
What He Actually Looked Like:
As the DPRK's first leader and founder of the Kim dynasty, Kim Il-sung promoted a carefully curated image of himself, including a look best described as "successful businessman smugly watching the sheriff drain the wrong lake." As a result, most pictures show no trace of the ... uh ... thing.
Yep, for decades, photographers were forbidden from capturing the massive growth on the back of his neck. It's as if Vladimir Putin had a parasitic twin and cropped it out of every shirtless horseback image. The only reason we have any photos at all is that Kim occasionally made visits to other countries, where local photographers felt free to snap away.
Despite a ruthless insistence on flattering angles unrivaled until the invention of influencers, Kim's growth was common knowledge -- particularly in South Korea, where a popular carnival game involved throwing baseballs at an image of Kim and winning a prize for hitting the "boil." It was popularly rumored that the growth was a tumor that was eating away at his brain. In reality, it was a massive calcium deposit caused by childhood malnutrition. Presumably it was too close to the spine to remove safely, although he obviously didn't publicly discuss the thing nobody was allowed to look at.
Related: 18 Pieces Of History That Your Brain Pictures Wrong
The Recent Popes Were All Uncomfortably Attractive
What You Think They Looked Like:
The pope is an old white guy in a fancy muumuu. We didn't even say which one; that pretty much covers it.
What They Actually Looked Like:
A few years back, an HBO executive bolted out of an edibles coma with a bold new idea: "What if pope ... but young?" The result was The Young Pope, the hit show that reminded stunned audiences that a pope can theoretically be fuckable. There's no rule against it! It happened all the time in the Middle Ages, when it was considered completely normal to become pope at 19 and then die in a sexual mishap at 27. But such a thing is almost impossible to imagine these days.
Well, there's no need to imagine it, because no religious leader is born old. Even the Dalai Lama is sometimes a toddler (for tax purposes, we assume). And we can confirm that some popes used to be kind of hot. For example, here's John Paul II when he was still aspiring actor and scrabble nightmare Karol Wojtyla:
The guy looks like a young Ansel Elgort (the only kind of Ansel Elgort currently known to science). And Wojtyla would hang onto his good looks for quite some time, even though the next few years would see him hit by truck, a tram, and the Second World War, which would be enough to leave most of us looking like Gollum on a bad hair day.
Meanwhile, his successor, Joseph Ratzinger, had kind of a Timothee Chalamet thing going on in his 20s.
Pope Francis was a little goofier, but definitely looks like he'd be the most fun to hang out with. Which is pretty on brand, really.
Related: 7 Sexy Old Photos That'll Change Your View Of Famous People
Alanis Morissette Was A Canadian Teen Pop Sensation
What You Think She Looked Like:
Alanis Morissette.
What She Actually Looked Like:
Jessie Spano from Saved By The Bell.
OK, so the Alanis Morissette we know became an international superstar with "You Oughta Know," an angry rock screed that has soundtracked more furious breakups than the organist at a Vegas wedding chapel. The single's album, Jagged Little Pill, was such a smash that people forget it was actually her third album and a huge career swerve. Before that, she was less a rock goddess and more a teen-oriented Canadian dance pop star. If not for that complete reinvention, she'd probably be best remembered as the opening act who wasn't allowed to look Vanilla Ice in the eyes.
But don't take our word for it. Check out the video for "Feel Your Love," featuring a backing track fished out of a dumpster behind Paula Abdul's house and all the dancers who got kicked off the Rhythm Nation tour for accidentally out-dancing Janet Jackson.
Morissette's whole Robin Sparkles phase wasn't a minor thing, either. Her debut album went platinum in Canada, meaning it sold over seven copies. From poutine silo to seal-infested hockey rink, the entire nation was jamming out to hits like "Walk Away," featuring Joey from Friends back when he was still Matt from the Alanis video.
And even that was actually Morissette's second foray into entertainment, having debuted getting slime dumped on her head as part of the classic Canadian comedy series You Can't Do That On Television. (Spoiler: They totally could do that on television)
Related: 25 Famous People You Would Never Recognize Out Of Context
Multiple Authors Are Unrecognizable Without A Mustache
What You Think They Looked Like:
The 19th century was a great time for two things: literature and ridiculous mustaches. As a result, many of the most famous authors in history are basically unrecognizable without their facial hair. But only Jane Austen was born with a handlebar mustache, meaning we can spoil some other classic literary images just by showing you an early photo.
What They Actually Looked Like:
Take Mark Twain, whom you're picturing as an extremely dignified eagle someone strategically shaved and stuffed into a Colonel Sanders costume.
So it might come as a surprise to see Twain before he decided to grow the mustache, when he kind of looked like the Pillsbury Dipshit.
Things didn't improve much when he decided to grow the worst sideburns outside of a Williamsburg unicycle repair store.
In fact, it wasn't until middle age that he finally hit on his ideal look as an incredibly yoked man with a sea lion's mustache.
Things aren't much better with Edgar Allan Poe, because when are things ever better with Edgar Allan Poe? His classic image resembles a bloodhound with a drinking problem, while his mustache looks like he just became overcome with sadness midway through shaving.
Whereas young, mustache-less Poe looks ... somehow way goofier? Jesus, Edgar.
And don't get us (or anyone else) started on Friedrich Nietzsche, who goes from dignified probable maniac ...
... to looking like the kind of guy who would try to quote Nietzsche while hitting on you in a bar.
So let this be a lesson to any aspiring young authors out there: Stop worrying about things like "story structure" and "character development" and start worrying about what kind of mustache you're going to have on your jacket photo.
For more, check out 19 WTF Celebrity Cameos By Celebrities You Think You'd Recognize:
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