Winston Churchill is probably the most popular British prime minister ever. Having served his country as a soldier and politician, he is often considered the among the greatest of Britons. But while his heroic stand against the Nazis is well known, there are still a few facts about the popular politician that might surprise you.

10.His Cigars

The classic image of Winston Churchill includes a giant cigar stuck between his lips. Churchill developed his love of cigars as a young man, when he traveled to Cuba to report on an ongoing rebellion against the colonial Spanish government. For the rest of his life, he smoked eight or nine cigars every day. However, he almost never took a puff, preferring to chew on the end until it went out, then relight it and start again. To prevent the cigar from becoming soggy, Churchill invented the "bellybando," a strip of brown paper which could be glued around the end. At any given time, Churchill had 3,000 to 4,000 cigars in his house, mostly his favorite Romeo y Julieta brand. The cigars were kept in boxes labeled "large" or "small" and "wrapped" or "naked." They were mostly gifts, which helped keep expenses down. (One of his servants observed that "in two days his cigar consumption was the equivalent of my weekly salary.") On one occasion, the president of Cuba presented Churchill with 2,400 top-quality cigars, although his paranoid security team insisted that one cigar from each box be sent off and tested for poison. Perhaps the story that best illustrates his love of cigars occurred during World War II, when he had a special oxygen mask designed so that he could still smoke his cigar on an unpressurized, high-altitude flight.

9.His Daring South African Escape

In 1899, Churchill traveled to South Africa to cover the ongoing Boer War for the Morning Post. While there, he was offered a chance to accompany an expedition on an improvised armored train. Although correspondents for the Times and the Manchester Guardian declined the invitation, describing the train as a "death trap," Churchill was all too eager to go along. That turned out to be a mistake. As the train was returning to the British lines, it was ambushed by a Boer commando (similar to the one pictured above), which opened fire from a nearby hill. As the British returned fire, the train driver steamed ahead at full speed—and ran right into the rocks the Boers had placed on the tracks, causing one of the cars to derail on a curve. One British crew member managed to escape and make it back to safety, but Churchill and the other survivors were taken prisoner. The captured men were taken to a school the Boers had converted into a prison camp. Churchill remained there until 1900, when he jumped a fence while the guards were distracted. Two captured officers were supposed to follow, but the guards returned and they were unable to join him. When it became obvious that the two officers were not coming, Churchill made his way through Pretoria and managed to sneak on board a cargo train. Forced to jump off by thirst, he then walked through the bush until he came across a cottage owned by a British mining engineer, who agreed to hide him at the bottom of a mine shaft. He also told him that the Boers had placed a £25 bounty on his head. With the help of the engineer, Churchill was able to board a train to Portuguese East Africa, escaping South Africa for good.

8.The Two Winstons

Although it's somewhat overshadowed by his political career, Winston Churchill was an accomplished writer. In fact, he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953. His first book was The Story Of The Malakand Field Force, a first-hand account of a military campaign in what is now Pakistan.

7.The Accident That Almost Killed Him

In December 1931, Churchill was on a late-night visit to his friend Bernard Baruch (pictured with Churchill) in New York when he had a brush with death. While crossing the street, he was hit by a car, which then dragged him behind it for a short distance. As it turned out, Churchill had instinctively looked to the right when he wanted to cross. However, since cars drive on opposite sides of the road in America and Britain, he should actually have looked left. Instead, he stepped serenely into the path of an oncoming car. Churchill sustained severe bruising on his chest and a sprained shoulder. He played down the severity of the injuries, writing that he couldn't understand "why I was not broken like an eggshell or squashed like a gooseberry." He also accepted all the blame for the accident, informing the police that the driver was innocent and securing his release. Since the accident occurred during Prohibition, Churchill managed to talk his doctor into writing him a note asserting that "the post-accident concussion of Hon. Winston S. Churchill necessitates the use of alcoholic spirits, especially at meal times."

6.His Interest In Islam

Churchill was so fascinated by Islam that his family thought he might convert. His interest was revealed by the discovery of a 1907 letter written by Lady Gwendoline Bertie, who was engaged to his brother at the time. The letter was written as Churchill was about to leave on a tour of North Africa and Lady Gwendoline warned that "if you come into contact with Islam your conversion might be effected with greater ease than you might have supposed."

审校：张茜 编辑：简简单单 来源：前十网