Some of history’s biggest figures weren’t content simply making history so they attempted to live forever through their offspring. The following 7 men managed to make their mark in history in the most fecund of manners.

1. Borjigin Temüjin

Borjigin Temüjin, better known as Genghis Khan, was a 13th century Mongol warlord who ruled over the largest contiguous empire in history. He is remembered for his brilliant use of extreme brutality and psychological warfare. Genghis also sired an incredible amount of children throughout his conquered lands. Outside of his four official sons, he had anywhere from 700 to 1000 unofficial children roaming around his empire. He further complicated things by saying that even unacknowledged children had a right to claim his throne. Genghis spread his seed so far and wide that there are 16 million descendants of Genghis Khan in Asia today.

2. Augustus II the Strong

Augustus II the Strong was 17th century Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth king who transformed Dresden into an artistic center. He was well educated and earned his cognomen on account of his herculean physical strength. Augustus could break apart horseshoes with his bare hands and competed in fox tossing matches (which is exactly what it sounds like) with a single finger. When he wasn’t busy fighting the Turks, he was busy making children. Over 50 years, Augustus fathered at least 382 bastards and one legitimate heir. He had such a hard time keeping track of his children that he ended up in an incestuous relationship with at least one.

3. Ramesses the Great

Ramesses the Great was a 12th century Pharoah who had the longest uninterrupted reign in Egypt’s history. Hotly debated to be the Pharoah of the Exodus, Ramesses spent a good portion of his life warring with neighboring states. After signing the first peace treaty in history, he focused on city building and his harem. Ramesses’ successors called him “Great Ancestor”, which isn’t far off since he fathered at least 100 known children. Like Augustus, Ramesses also had incestuous relationships but entered into them by choice. Entire generations had grown up under Ramesses’ rule and his death at 90 sparked waves of terror.

4. Ismail Ibn Sharif

Ismail Ibn Sharif was a late-17th century sultan who who solidified Moroccan independence by defeating the Ottomans in battle. Extremely shrewd and bloodthirsty, Ismail used Christian slaves to build his capital and then sold them back to European powers at inflated prices. He funded a golden age of Barbary pirates and built one of the largest, organized slave armies. Ismail also spent a mind-boggling amount of time impregnating women in his Meknes harem. He fathered at least 889 acknowledged children and an unknown amount of unacknowledged children during his reign. Experts estimate that he had to have sex at least twice a day during his 60 year reign to produce that many children.

5. Mongkut

Mongkut was a 19th century king of Siam who spent most of his reign modernizing his kingdom. Mongkut renovated various temples, increased women’s rights, and focused on building relations with the British Empire. Interestingly, the inspiration behind The King and I almost didn’t become king. Following tradition, he became a celibate monk at the age of 20 and stayed one for 27 years after becoming disenchanted with political intrigues. He eventually found the support of powerful nobles who ensured his ascension and made up for lost time by fathering 81 children.

6. Abdul-Aziz bin Saud

Abdul-Aziz bin Saud, better known as Ibn Saud, was the first monarch of the Third Saudi State. Exiled in Kuwait from the age of 14, Ibn Saud made ends meet by raiding the Nejd. He leveraged this experience to build a ruthless militia and conquered most of the Arabian Peninsula by 1932. Oil was discovered a few years later, transforming the House of Saud from a band of desert raiders into the richest family on the planet. Over the course of his lifetime, Ibn Saud had at least 22 wives, from which he had a 37 boys and an unknown amount of daughters.

7. Niall of the Nine Hostages

Niall of the Nine Hostages was a late 4th century Irish king who set up political alliances with his enemies through hostages. Following a successful raid, Niall would promise to leave them alone as long as they sent him a hostage. Most of what we know about Niall comes from an epic scroll where he seduces a bog hag to become king. Not that this type of activity would have been surprising for Niall. He sired 12 official sons, an unknown amount of daughters, and an unknown amount of unofficial children. Although the amount of children he had in total is unknown, 3 million Irishmen descended from him.

1. Science – Neuroscientists discover brain area responsible for fear of losing money (PhysOrg).
2. Science – The Evolution Debate Is Over; It’s Time To Move Forward (NPR).
3. Science – Being bored could be bad for your health (Salon).
4. Science – What came before the Big Bang? (The Daily Galaxy).
5. History – Slavery in America: Historical Overview (Slavery in America).
6. History – When electric doorbells were new (Wired).
7. History – Indian man resurrects the East India Company (Times Online).
8. Interesting – Does polygamy reduce the risk of AIDS? (Chris Blattman).
9. Interesting – USA’s top pork producer is also one the worst polluters (Rolling Stone).
10. Wikipedia – Edwin Howard Armstrong: The inventor of FM radio (Wikipedia).

E-mail ty.rannosaur.us or find us on Twitter and StumbleUpon.

1. History – Tycho Brahe to be exhumed (The Copenhagen Post).
2. History – The tragedy of dying languages (BBC).
3. History – World History Looks Different When Seen Through Islamic Eyes (VOA).
4. History – The history of tipping (BillShrink).
5. History – Founders of British obstetrics ‘were callous murderers’ (Guardian UK).
6. Interesting – Why Do the Chinese Save So Much? (Columbia Business School)
7. Interesting – Chinese attitudes about antiques 40 years after the Cultural Revolution (NY Times).
8. Interesting – How the right to arms saved the non-violent civil rights protesters (The Volokh Conspiracy).
9. Science – Our world may be a giant hologram (NewScientist).
10. WTF – How to survive if you are buried alive (The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook).

E-mail ty.rannosaur.us or find us on Twitter and StumbleUpon.

1. Interesting – The Jihadist Next Door (NY Times).
2. Interesting – Could Cars Have Caused the Mortgage Meltdown? (Wired)
3. History – Josef Mengele’s diary up for sale (Telegraph UK).
4. History – Early draft of the Constitution found (Philadelphia Inquirer).
5. History – Adolf Hitler, the Irish folk music fan (IrishCentral).
6. History – “Voodoo Histories”: When smart people believe dumb things (Salon).
7. Science – Battle of the Viral Mutations (SEED).
8. Science – Zoologger: ‘Living beach ball’ is giant single cell (NewScientist).
9. Science – Physicist Discovers How to Teleport Energy (arXiv).
10. Dinosaurs – Tiny dinos perished in footprint death pits (NewScientist).

E-mail ty.rannosaur.us or find us on Twitter and StumbleUpon.

1. Science – Antarctica’s “Blood Falls” (Discover Magazine).
2. Science – Volcanoes ‘destroyed ancient ocean life’ (Telegraph UK).
3. Science – The Lost Turkeys of the New World (Wired).
4. Science – The absolutely insane 1 Megajoule laser (ScienceDaily).
5. History – Asian skeleton discovered in Roman cemetery (Independent UK).
6. History – Birds Got Too Fat to Fly After Dinosaurs Vanished? (National Geographic)
7. Interesting – The World’s Dirtiest Cities (Forbes).
8. Interesting – Russia’s evolution as seen through McDonald’s (NY Times).
9. Interesting – Shanghai’s cricket fighting subculture (WSJ).
10. Wikipedia – Tama-Re, the Egyptian-themed Nuwaubian compound (Wikipedia).

E-mail ty.rannosaur.us or find us on Twitter and StumbleUpon.