1

Harriet Tubman secretly worked as a Union spy

Most Americans know Harriet Tubman for her leadership of the Underground Railroad, but during the Civil War, she also became a Union scout and spy in South Carolina. Working with Colonel James Montgomery, Tubman gathered intelligence from enslaved people living behind Confederate lines near the Combahee River .

In June 1863, Tubman helped lead the Combahee River Raid, guiding Union gunboats through Confederate waters filled with hidden mines. The operation freed more than 700 enslaved people and made Tubman the first woman known to lead a major U.S. military mission.

2

Julia Child worked for the U.S. intelligence agency

Before becoming television’s most famous chef, Julia Child joined the Office of Strategic Services, or OSS, in 1942 during World War II. The OSS later evolved into the CIA. Too tall to enlist in the Women’s Army Corps, Child instead classified files and overseas communications in Asia.

One of her strangest assignments involved helping researchers develop shark repellent for Navy explosives and emergency rescue kits . The repellent used copper acetate and black dye to create an odor similar to a dead shark.

3

Benjamin Franklin conducted unofficial spy work in Europe

Benjamin Franklin was more than a scientist and Founding Father. During the American Revolution, he quietly acted as an intelligence organizer while serving as ambassador to France beginning in 1776 . Franklin cultivated secret alliances, intercepted information, and used coded correspondence to support the colonies’ fight against Britain.

Operating from Paris, Franklin built relationships with French officials and helped persuade France to support the American cause with money, troops, and naval power. Historians consider his diplomatic intelligence efforts essential to the American victory at Yorktown in 1781 and eventual independence.

4

Louisa May Alcott published thrillers under another name

Louisa May Alcott became a literary icon after publishing Little Women in 1868, but few readers knew that she had already written sensational thrillers under the pen name "A.M. Barnard." These stories featured revenge, hidden identities, forbidden romance, and dramatic crime plots that shocked Victorian audiences.

Alcott used a pseudonym because publishers often expected women writers to produce respectable domestic fiction. Many of her darker stories remained forgotten until scholars rediscovered them in the 1940s. Today, titles like Behind a Mask reveal a far more rebellious side of the beloved author.

5

Maya Angelou worked as San Francisco’s first black female cable car conductor

Long before becoming a celebrated poet and author, Maya Angelou made history in San Francisco during the 1940s. At only 16 years old, she applied repeatedly for a conductor job on the city’s cable cars after seeing an advertisement that excluded Black applicants .

Angelou refused to give up despite repeated rejection. She eventually became San Francisco’s first Black female cable car conductor in 1944. Years later, she described proudly wearing the blue uniform while working long shifts across the city before launching her writing and civil rights careers.

6

Dr. Seuss created classified wartime propaganda films

Before writing Green Eggs and Ham and The Cat in the Hat , Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, worked on wartime propaganda during World War II. Between 1943 and 1945, he joined director Frank Capra’s Signal Corps unit to produce military training films for American soldiers .

Geisel also drew political cartoons supporting the Allied war effort and criticizing fascism. Some of his films were classified during the war because they contained military training material. His animated work helped explain battlefield strategy and morale issues to thousands of U.S. troops overseas.

7

Babe Ruth once played an entire game with a fever over 102 degrees

In 1925, Babe Ruth became seriously ill during spring training and collapsed while traveling by train . Newspapers nicknamed the incident "the bellyache heard around the world." Reports from the time described Ruth suffering from a fever above 102 degrees while still insisting on returning to baseball activities.

Despite his condition, Ruth’s determination became part of baseball legend. The illness hurt his performance during the 1925 season, when the New York Yankees finished seventh in the American League. Even so, Ruth rebounded quickly and helped lead the Yankees to championships in later years.

8

Harry Houdini worked with police departments

Harry Houdini’s famous escape acts fascinated police departments across America and Europe in the early 1900s. Officers regularly challenged him to escape from handcuffs, prison wagons, and locked jail cells. Houdini often invited local police to inspect restraints before his performances began.

Beyond entertainment, Houdini also worked closely with law enforcement to expose fraudulent mediums and fake spiritualists during the 1920s . Using his knowledge of locks, hidden compartments, and deception, he publicly demonstrated how many supposed supernatural tricks were actually carefully staged illusions.

9

Frank Lloyd Wright hid a private apartment inside one of his buildings

Architect Frank Lloyd Wright secretly maintained a private apartment inside his famous Oak Park Studio near Chicago, Illinois. Built in the 1890s, the studio served as both his workplace and personal retreat while he designed many of his early Prairie-style homes across the Midwest.

The hidden living quarters allowed Wright to work late into the night and host select guests away from public attention. The building itself became one of the most important centers of American architecture, producing groundbreaking residential designs that influenced modern architecture around the world.

10

Muhammad Ali quietly funded humanitarian causes for years

Muhammad Ali’s boxing fame often overshadowed his enormous charitable work. For decades, Ali quietly donated money to hospitals, food programs, children’s charities, and international humanitarian efforts . Friends and family later revealed that many of his contributions were intentionally kept private.

In 1990, Ali traveled to Iraq during tensions leading up to the Gulf War and helped secure the release of 15 American hostages. He also supported global relief organizations and Parkinson’s disease research after his own diagnosis. In 2005, President George W. Bush awarded Ali the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

1

He served hot dogs to British Royalty

In 1939, for the first time ever, a sitting US president hosted the reigning British monarchs on American soil. And it wasn’t just a formal state meeting; it was a picnic.

On June 11 of that year, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt welcomed King George VI and Queen Elizabeth to their home in Hyde Park, New York. Instead of an elaborate diplomatic banquet, the menu was unexpectedly simple and quintessentially American: hot dogs and beer. According to FDR, the queen politely tried hers with a knife and fork, while the king ate several with his hands and seemed to enjoy them. Behind the scenes, the visit was more than symbolic, yet folksy hospitality. With war already looming in Europe, both sides were quietly strengthening ties that would soon become crucial during WWII.

2

The first sitting president to fly on a plane

While FDR made history in many ways, one of his lesser-known firsts took place thousands of feet above the ground.

On January 11, 1943, in the middle of WWII, he became the first sitting US president to fly in an airplane. At a time when air travel was still far from routine, he embarked on a secret 7,000-mile journey from Miami, Florida, to Bathurst, Gambia, before continuing to Casablanca, Morocco. The trip wasn't taken for leisure; German U-boats had made Atlantic sea travel risky, so Roosevelt crossed the ocean aboard a Boeing 314 flying boat known as the Dixie Clipper . His destination was the Casablanca Conference, where he met with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to discuss wartime strategy.

3

Highly superstitious

Are you the type to knock on wood to avoid bad luck? Or would you walk under a ladder without a second thought? If you're in the first group, you would have fit right in with Franklin D. Roosevelt.

FDR famously declared that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself," but he also had a surprisingly superstitious side. According to people who worked with him in the White House, Roosevelt kept his desk and personal items arranged in a precise order that he believed brought good luck. He also disliked the number 13: family members and aides recalled that he avoided hosting dinners with 13 guests and was reluctant to begin important trips on Friday the 13th. He even had a lucky charm, a brown felt fedora that he wore during all four of his presidential campaigns. We can't say it didn't work.

4

He loved practical jokes

With all his responsibilities, talents, and interests, FDR still found time to joke around.

According to his biographers, Roosevelt loved practical jokes and kept his playful streak throughout his life, even pulling pranks well into his presidency. In the tense world of politics, that sense of humor became one of his trademarks. He enjoyed classic gags, including putting bubbling powder in drinking glasses to surprise White House guests, or slipping completely made-up words into conversations and then watching with delight as his staff scrambled to check the dictionary. Friends and aides also noted that he had a unique ability to laugh off rumors, criticism, and political attacks that might have rattled other leaders.

5

Peculiar work schedules

Jokes didn't distract FDR from his work. If anything, they helped him cope, and he certainly had plenty of work to do. In fact, Roosevelt was known for his unusual working hours.

Unlike many other presidents who were early risers, he often worked late into the night and typically didn't begin his day until around 9 am. During WWII, while overseeing a global conflict, he regularly spent his evenings reviewing reports, making decisions, and meeting with advisers long after most Americans had gone to bed. What makes this even more impressive is that he maintained this pace as his health steadily declined. Doctors urged him to slow down and limit his workload, but Roosevelt frequently ignored that advice. For a wartime commander-in-chief, there was always one more decision to make.

6

He appointed the first female cabinet member

Among his many historic firsts, FDR was the inaugural POTUS to appoint a woman to a Cabinet position, a decision that reflected both his political instincts and his willingness to recognize talent and intelligence where he found it.

In 1933, he chose labor advocate Frances Perkins as Secretary of Labor. It turned out to be one of the most consequential appointments of his presidency. Perkins served from 1933 to 1945, making her the longest-serving Secretary of Labor in American history. And as if that weren't enough, she became one of the chief designers of the New Deal.

7

11 presidential relatives

Most people know that Franklin D. Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt were related: the 32nd president was a distant cousin of the 26th. But few realize just how extensive FDR’s presidential family tree really was.

In fact, genealogists have traced Franklin Roosevelt’s family connections to at least 11 US presidents. FDR was not only related to Theodore Roosevelt and his own wife, Eleanor Roosevelt (his fifth cousin once removed), but also to an impressive number of other commanders in chief. Among those connected to him by blood were George Washington (with whom he shared ancestors from English nobility and the early settlers of Virginia), John Adams, John Quincy Adams, James Madison, and William Harrison. Through marriage and extended family ties, he was also related to Ulysses S. Grant, Benjamin Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Martin Van Buren, and William Howard Taft.

8

His illness may not have been polio

As is well known, FDR was struck by a serious illness in 1921 at age 39 that left him permanently unable to walk unaided. But during his presidency, he worked hard to keep public attention focused on his leadership rather than on his body, so while Americans understood he had been diagnosed with polio, few knew about the paralysis.

To stand at public events, Roosevelt relied on heavy steel leg braces and canes that helped him project confidence and strength throughout his presidency. However, although doctors at the time diagnosed him with polio, some modern medical researchers have suggested that his symptoms may have been more consistent with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), a rare autoimmune disorder.

9

He didn’t graduate from law school

FDR was a bright and curious man who threw himself into subjects that fascinated him, but when something failed to hold his interest, he wasn't afraid to move on.

After earning a History degree from Harvard University in 1903, he enrolled at Columbia Law School, but he found that he simply didn't enjoy it. According to the Miller Center at the University of Virginia, Roosevelt showed little enthusiasm for the legal profession, and maybe that’s why he never achieved a Law degree. Even so, he passed the New York bar exam and began practicing after it, but the experiment lasted only a few years. Then, in 1910, an opportunity came along that interested him far more: local Democrats in New York asked him to run for the state Senate. Roosevelt eagerly accepted, and his political career was underway.

10

Expert in many fields

Politics and wartime strategy weren't FDR's only talents. Long before he entered the White House, he acquired a deep interest in nature.

Growing up in Dutchess County, New York, Roosevelt developed a fascination with birds that went far beyond a childhood hobby. By age 11, he was already learning taxidermy, eventually becoming a skilled self-taught naturalist and bird expert. Over the years, he identified and cataloged roughly 300 bird species. His detailed field journals and collection of more than 300 Dutchess County specimens are still considered some of the most complete records of local bird life from that era.

1

It was invented in Switzerland

While the name suggests a US origin, the technology that created American cheese actually began in the heart of the Alps. It was developed in 1911 by Swiss researchers Walter Gerber and Fritz Stettler, who were looking for a way to extend the shelf life of their country’s famous Emmental cheese.

The problem with traditional cheese is that it eventually dries out, molds, or separates into a greasy mess when heated. By shredding the cheese, adding sodium citrate, and heating it, the Swiss duo discovered they could create a stable, smooth product that didn't separate. While they weren't trying to create "American" cheese as we know it today, their emulsification process laid the foundational science for every single-wrapped slice produced today.

2

It was popularized by a Canadian

The man responsible for the global dominance of American cheese was James L. Kraft. Ring any bells? Kraft was a Canadian immigrant who moved to Chicago in 1903. While he didn't invent the concept of processed cheese, he perfected the industrial scale of its production and marketing.

Kraft noticed that retailers struggled with cheese spoilage; if a wheel of cheddar didn't sell quickly, it was a total loss. He experimented with various methods of heating and blending cheese until he found a formula that could be canned and shipped long distances without spoiling. In 1916, he received a patent for his "processed cheese," and during World War I, the U.S. government purchased millions of pounds of it for soldiers, cementing its privileged place in the American diet.

3

It was almost called "Embalmed Cheese"

When processed cheese first hit the market, it had its detractors. Traditional cheesemakers were horrified, and so were pure food advocates. These critics argued that the product shouldn't even be called cheese. They’ve even gone so far as to call it "embalmed cheese" because of its unnaturally long shelf life and the chemical emulsifiers used to keep it stable. Yet, Kraft’s marketing prowess and the sheer convenience of the product ultimately won the naming battle. At least in the court of public opinion.

4

Technically, it isn’t cheese

Kraft may have won the battle among the people, but legally, American cheese is not considered cheese. If you look closely at the packaging, you will rarely see the word "cheese" on its own. Because of strict FDA regulations, most varieties are legally classified as "Pasteurized Process Cheese Product" or "Pasteurized Process American Cheese Food."

To be labeled "cheese," a product must be made primarily of milk, salt, and enzymes. Processed American cheese, however, is made by blending real cheese—usually cheddar or Colby—with emulsifying salts, whey, and sometimes extra milk or fats.

5

Any cheese can be made into American cheese

The term "American cheese" refers more to a process than a specific flavor. In theory, you could make "American-style" brie, blue cheese, or parmesan. The defining characteristic is the addition of an emulsifier, which breaks down the proteins and allows the fats and water to stay together.

In fact, some high-end chefs now make their own artisanal American cheese with aged cheddars processed with sodium citrate to create a slice that has the complex flavor of an expensive block but the melting point of a Kraft Single.

6

It isn’t naturally yellow

The vibrant orange-yellow hue of American cheese is entirely a cosmetic choice. Traditionally, cheese color varied by the season; when cows ate fresh grass in the summer, their milk contained more beta-carotene, leading to a naturally yellowish cheese. To make their cheese look high-quality all year round, cheesemakers began adding dyes.

American cheese takes this tradition to the extreme. It is typically colored with annatto, a seed from the achiote tree. Without this dye, American cheese would be a pale, creamy white, which is how it is sold in many delis as "White American". Yes, that’s right, there is no flavor difference between the white and yellow versions.

7

It has an extremely low melting point

The scientific superpower of American cheese is its meltability. Traditional cheeses have a protein structure that tightens when heated, which is why a slice of aged cheddar on a burger often results in an oily puddle and a rubbery clump.

Because of the emulsifying salts, the proteins in American cheese can withstand heat without clumping together. This gives it an incredibly low and stable melting point, transforming the slice into a silky sauce. This is why it remains the undisputed king of grilled cheese sandwiches.

8

It’s been in space

When you're hurtling through orbit in a cramped capsule, you need food that is stable, easy to eat, and won't crumble into thousands of tiny, electronics-clogging pieces. American cheese fit the bill perfectly for early NASA missions.

Processed cheese in tubes or cubes was a staple of the Apollo missions. Because it doesn't separate or sweat oil in varying temperatures and pressures, it was one of the few dairy products that could reliably provide flavor and calcium to astronauts.

9

It helped bring cheese to the masses

Before the advent of processed cheese, cheese was often a seasonal luxury. It was difficult to transport, expensive to store, and highly variable in quality. James L. Kraft’s invention changed that. By creating a product that was uniform in flavor and shelf-stable, he made cheese affordable and accessible to every corner of the United States.

10

The U.S. Government once gave it out

The U.S. government not only bought tons of American cheese during World War I. In the 1980s, the term "government cheese" became a thing. During a period of dairy surpluses, the government bought millions of pounds of cheese to prop up prices for struggling farmers.

To avoid letting it rot, the Reagan administration began distributing five-pound blocks of cheese to low-income families, seniors, and schools. For many who grew up in that era, that pale orange processed cheese was a lifesaver.