History jokes, famous anecdotes and short funny stories. Jokes and anecdotes of famous people

When Will Rogers was being taken to the White House to meet President Calvin Coolidge, he was cautioned not to try to be funny because the President had no sense of humor. The undaunted Rogers bet that he could have Coolidge laughing within 20 seconds. When the formal introduction was made, "Mr. President, may I introduce my friend, Mr. Will Rogers," Rogers held out his hand with a questioning look and said, "Pardon me, I didn't quite get the name." Coolidge roared with laughter, and Rogers won the wager.

MGM produced a film called Rasputin and the Empress. They sought to avoid legal action by Prince Yusupov, so they changed his name in the film to Prince Chegodieff. Surprisingly, Prince Yusupov sued the film company for neglecting to give him credit for his role in Rasputin's murder. He won the case and MGM was forced to pay a substantial sum in damages to the prince. Ironically, a real Prince Chegodieff also sued the studio for libelous use of his name and MGM was forced to pay him additional damages.

Having emigrated to Austria during World War I, Leon Trotsky spent much of his time playing chess at the Cafe Central. Many viewed the Russian as docile, quiet man who kept to himself. In March of 1917, when told that revolution had broken out in Russia, the Austrian foreign minister could not believe it. He skeptically responded, "Russias is not a land where revolutions break out. Besides, who on earth would make a revolution in Russia? Perhaps Herr Trotsky from the Cafe Central?"

Tolstoy was a great pacifist and was once lecturing on the need to be nonresistant and nonviolent towards all creatures. Someone in the audience responded by asking what should be done if one was attacked in the woods by a tiger. Tolstoy responded, "Do the best you can. It doesn't happen very often."

Roosevelt was often bored by the tedious small talk that was required of him at social functions. He often felt as if those with whom he conversed were seldom paying attention to what was said. To prove his point, sometimes Roosevelt would begin a conversation by saying, "I murdered my grandmother this morning." Often these words were met with polite approval. On one occasion, however, an attentive listener gave the witty reply, "I'm sure she had it coming to her."