Napoleon was actually average height for his era at roughly 5 feet 6 inches. British cartoonists popularized the myth of his tiny stature to mock his sweeping conquests.

Facing an impending war with Britain in 1803, he sold the massive territory for $15 million, abandoning a North American empire to instead finance his continental army.

Found during his 1799 Egyptian campaign, the stele featured the same text written in three distinct scripts, which finally allowed scholars to translate ancient hieroglyphs.

Enacted in 1804, the code replaced a confusing patchwork of feudal customs with a clear, unified legal framework that still influences the justice systems of dozens of nations.