I don't know about you, but I love history and I find it all interesting: from military history to biography, from ancient Rome to the Second World War, I can read up history books as easily as I eat cake (and I eat a lot of cake, believe me). I also happen to be a historian by education and I spent most of my adult life reading and researching about history (Late Antique, to be precise). 

I adore history, so, but I am aware not everyone feels the same way about the past, especially if the only contact with the subject came from those tedious, musty books we all had to study in high school. This is when curious facts or little known events come handy: they spice up things a bit and make it easier to develop a passion for this fascinating discipline. Italy has a very long history and, as a consequence, plenty of curious and little known facts about its people. Let's take a look at some!