I think Napoleon Bonaparte is the most misunderstood genius ever alive.

He conquered Europe and gave us over 2,000 legal codes that, 200+ years later, half of Europe still follows.

Here's his story and how history might have unfolded if he never existed: 🧵 The French Revolution began in 1789, overthrowing the monarchy and ushering in chaos.

Noble intentions quickly gave way to extremism:

- The King was executed
- 16,000 "enemies" were beheaded
- Churches were attacked

France was in turmoil.

In 2012, a cryptic image was posted on 4chan with a strange message:

"Hello. We are looking for highly intelligent individuals. To find them, we have devised a test..."

Today, it has become the world's greatest and most mysterious puzzle on the internet. Here's the story: 🧵 Within minutes, a hidden string of text was discovered in the image file by user 3301.

It led to another image with a cipher that, once solved, pointed to a subreddit.

There, clues about a 18th-century book called "The Lady of the Fountain" were found.

This man risked his life and save millions worldwide.

He was like the Nikola Tesla of medicine and one of the most important doctors in history.

But in 1865, he was locked up in an asylum and beaten for "mental health" issue.

Here's the tragic story of the forgotten genius: 🧵 Ignaz Semmelweis was a new doctor at the Vienna General Hospital, where childbed fever was rampant in the maternity wards.

He noticed something strange...

🚨 MIND-BENDING 🚨

This man was the genius behind the atomic bomb.

But after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, you would never believe how the US government treated him…

The story of how the Atomic Bomb killed J. Robert Oppenheimer... (thread) 🧵
Oppenheimer was a prodigy born in New York City in 1904 to wealthy German Jewish immigrants.

• He spoke 8 languages fluently.
• At Harvard, he graduated in just 3 years.
• He earned a PhD in physics at age 23.

These sisters shared the same king's bed.

- One became Queen of England.
- One vanished into obscurity.

500 years later, both their bloodlines shaped British history in ways no one could've imagined.

Here's the wild story of the Boleyn sisters: 🧵 Born into a modest noble family around 1500, Mary and Anne Boleyn's early lives couldn't predict their extraordinary futures.

But their ambitious father had bigger plans...

He secured young Anne a place at Europe's most prestigious finishing school - Margaret of Austria's court.

This is Peter Thiel.

He's worth $7.1 billion after founding & investing in $1B startups.

From creating the "PayPal mafia" to hiring Sam Altman, and Reid Hoffman, and partnering with Elon Musk...

He is also the greatest recruiter ever!

His 4 questions to spot future billionaire:
Thiel's 4 questions to spot future billionaires:

1. What important truth do very few people agree with you on?
2. How successful are you going to be?
3. Would you want to grab a beer with them after work?
4. Do you have Zen-like opposites?

Let me explain:

In 1997, Steve Jobs fired 4100 people, cut 70% of products, and simplified to 4 items on a 2x2 matrix.

Everyone thought Apple was doomed. But this was the turnaround of the century.

Here's how Steve saved Apple with under 90-day from bankruptcy:
Most people think Steve Jobs was ousted by Apple due to internal conflicts, but it wasn't just that.

When Macintosh failed, Steve went into a deep depression.

Here's John Scully talking about it

I used to think the most influential thinkers were:

Einstein, Nietzsche, or Freud.

But then I found the “philosopher of pessimism” who influenced all three and millions for centuries.

Here's his most important warnings for modern society: 🧵 Born in 1788 to a wealthy merchant in Gdańsk, Poland, Arthur Schopenhauer seemed destined for BUSINESS success.

But a childhood move to Hamburg, Germany at age 5 sparked a different path…

Look at this man.

He fell 20 feet into a burning ship, nearly drowned building a tunnel, and bankrupted multiple companies.

But his "reckless" ambitions made him one of the most important engineer in world history.

Sadly his legacy is a heartbreaking tragedy.... 🧵
Isambard Kingdom Brunel was born in 1806, learning engineering from his father Marc - Britain's most prominent engineer.

But Marc was terrible with money, sinking fortunes into failed inventions.

He even spent 10 humiliating weeks in debtors' prison. Young Isambard never forgot this lesson.

Einstein was jobless for 9 years because universities called him "too Jewish".

Then he published 4 papers that changed humanity forever.

His ideas influence everything from GPS to nuclear power.

Here's what happened to the greatest genius thinker of all time: Young Einstein wasn't your typical prodigy.

He spoke late as a child, worrying his parents.

But this "delay" was actually a gift - it let him think deeply about abstract concepts that others took for granted.

While other kids memorized facts, Einstein questioned everything.

❗MIND BOGGLING❗

In 1962, JFK faced the biggest decision in human history.

He discovered Soviet missiles 90 miles from Florida...

What he did next put humanity 15 minutes away from extinction.

But then with ONE word this Soviet man prevented WW3: 🧵
October 27, 1962 is the most important date most people don't know about.

Humanity was 7 minute from doomsday.

Why?

The crisis began in 1959 when Cuba became the first communist country in the Western Hemisphere, just 90 miles from Florida.

This man was the greatest spy in history.

During the Vietnam War, he manipulated the US Military, CIA, and TIME Magazine into giving him ALL their top-secret intel.

Here's the forgotten story behind the Perfect Spy (and a masterclass in building trust): 🧵 In 1975, America's most trusted Vietnam journalist revealed a shocking truth:

For 30 years, he'd been working as Vietnam's top spy.

His intel helped defeat the world's greatest military power.

Here's how he pulled off the perfect deception...

This man was Da Vinci's greatest 'apprentice' and called the Engineering Genius of Renaissance Italy.

500 years later, scientists traced him to creating many of Da Vinci's most famous inventions.

Sadly, his legacy is a forgotten tragedy. Here's his story... 🧵
Francesco Melzi wasn't just any apprentice.

At age 14, he caught Leonardo da Vinci's attention with an ingenious water-lifting device he'd built entirely on his own.

Leonardo was so impressed, he did something unprecedented - he took Melzi into his home as both student and son.

Carl Jung once said:

“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life, and you will call it fate.”

7 ideas from one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century: 🧵
"When one imagines a psychologist, they may bring forth images of an old man in a lab coat injecting rats with drugs."

Carl Jung loved alchemy, studied seances & the paranormal and listened to the ramblings of schizophrenic patients

This is Marcus Licinius Crassus.

He was one of the richest men in Ancient Rome and worth $220 billion today with inflation adjusted.

Yet history has forgotten his shadiest wealth generating methods (that feels too illegal to know.)

Here's his wild story: Born in 115 BC to an average Roman family, Crassus seemed destined for a simple life.

But through questionable tactics, he built Rome's biggest fortune by age 32...

• Exploiting disasters for profit
• Building a slave trade empire
• Becoming a snake oil salesman to gain influence

Let's explore:

This is Charles Ingram.

In 2001, he found a genius way to cheat Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and almost escaped with £1 million.

Investigation found him guilty.

But what the police found next told a very different and sinister story (behind the biggest fraud on TV): 🧵 This is Charles Ingram's final 1,000,000 pounds question.

Watch this video very carefully, and tell me if something seems off:

John Von Neumann created the future we live in today.

Other geniuses could not keep up with him.

They were on tricycles trying to chase a racing car.

Let's explore his past life which led him to such excellence... 🧵 Born in Budapest in 1903, John grew up in an intellectual environment.

He could divide 8 digit numbers in his head by age 6.

His mind was so brilliant that his tutor cried after their first encounter.

Yet, his father was not happy with his love for mathematics.

Pythagoras built the weirdest cult in history.

Yes the Pythagoras who created that Pythagorean theorem you studied in 6th grade.

Read this story, and you'll never see him nor a triangle the same again... 🧵 Pythagoras is famous for his theorem on right triangles.

But his fascination with numbers started young.

As a teen, he traveled to Egypt and spent 22 years learning secret wisdom from priests.

He became convinced numbers were the key to understanding the universe.

I used to think the most influential thinkers were:

Einstein, Nietzsche, or Freud.

Then I found the father of analytical psychology, who said: “Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life, and you will call it fate.”

5 ideas from one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century: 🧵 "When one imagines a psychologist, they may bring forth images of an old man in a lab coat injecting rats with drugs."

Carl Jung loved alchemy, studied seances & the paranormal and listened to the ramblings of schizophrenic patients

This gave Jung a unique to life around him.

I used to think the most influential thinkers were:

Einstein, Nietzsche, or Freud.

Then I found the father of analytical psychology, who said, “Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life, and you will call it fate.”

5 ideas from one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century: 🧵 "When one imagines a psychologist, they may bring forth images of an old man in a lab coat injecting rats with drugs."

Carl Jung loved alchemy, studied seances & the paranormal and listened to the ramblings of schizophrenic patients

This gave Jung a unique to life around him.

Elon Musk is a different breed.

He runs 6 billion dollar companies simultaneously, has 12 kids, and sh*tposts on 𝕏 24/7.

Here is his productivity and management philosophy that took me forever to understand:🧵 Elon's relentless drive was forged in a challenging South African childhood.

On the autism spectrum, he endured abuse from his engineer father Errol.

Musk escaped into books, reading encyclopedia volumes cover to cover.