Facts about Winston Churchill

19 Interesting Facts About Churchill

Many Britons consider Winston Churchill the greatest of their compatriots, and we have to admit that they have good reason to do so. Churchill lived a very interesting life full of important decisions and immense responsibility. Having become one of the most significant politicians of his time, he forever inscribed his biography on the pages of British history, and he is still widely revered by all Britons.

Top facts about Winston Churchill

  • He was born prematurely at seven months old, which did not prevent him from living 90 years, despite not having the healthiest lifestyle.
  • Churchill’s biography mentions the fact that his father waved a hand at him because of mediocre academic success, considering him a hopeless dumbass.
  • Winston Churchill had mixed Anglo-American roots. His mother was from an American family that fought for the independence of the American colonies in George Washington’s armies, and his father came from an ancient family of English dukes.
  • As a child, Winston Churchill was often subjected to corporal punishment at school for his misconduct.
  • Churchill’s parents could not pay much attention to their son, so his nanny raised him. As he later recalled, she became the dearest and closest person in his life.
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Churchill and King George VI
  • His full name is Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill.
  • In his military career, the future politician showed physical courage on the battlefield, eventually rising to the rank of colonel. As a soldier, Churchill took part in hostilities in Europe, Africa, South America, and Asia.
  • In 2002, the British company BBC conducted a survey, according to which Winston Churchill was recognized as the greatest Briton in history.
  • Only a few people know that he was also a talented writer. He wrote more books than the famous Walter Scott and Charles Dickens combined.
  • Being also an experienced mason, Churchill himself manually built his suburban estate.
  • In the 50s, Churchill received the Nobel Prize in literature, beating Hemingway in the fight for first place.
  • Throughout his life, Churchill smoked a lot, preferring strong cigars. He became addicted to them when he served in Cuba as a war correspondent.
  • He was distinguished for having an excellent memory and knew by heart almost all of Shakespeare’s works. And once, as a dare, he recited 1,200 lines from a book about the history of Ancient Rome.

  • Once at a formal reception, the waiter accidentally poured champagne over the balding Churchill’s head. He in response asked the waiter if he was certain that this was a suitable remedy for baldness.
  • The politician was also an artist. His paintings were exhibited even in the Louvre, however, Churchill signed them with the pseudonym “Charles Morin”. Pablo Picasso himself publicly stated that Churchill would have become a great artist if he had not chosen politics.
  • He wrote all his political speeches himself.
  • In Churchill’s mansion, his personal cigar stock numbered several thousand pieces.
  • In 1899, in South Africa, he was captured as a prisoner of war but managed to escape. With a bounty on his head, he traveled in nine days to reach Portuguese East Africa (Mozambique).
  • When Winston Churchill was in South Africa as a military correspondent, the Boers, with whom the British fought, assigned a reward of 25 pounds for Churchill’s head — “dead or alive”. At the same time, he then received 250 pounds a month for work.

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