A Complete List of the Richest People Throughout History

While we’d all like to be rich someday, I bet no one expects to make anything above a million, much less several billions of dollars. Whether it’s George Lucas’ $4.1 billion or Henry Ford’s $144 billion dollar industry, these are the richest people who ever lived. Read on to see who made the most…

Jakob Fugger

The 1500’s German merchant made his money in mining and expanding family assets. The Fugger family, at one point, had a monopolistic hold on copper in Europe. Today, he’d be worth $400 billion.

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The More You Know

  • At the Wife Carrying World Championships in Finland, first prize is the wife's weight in beer.
  • In the late 1600s, London was plagued by an attacker who would spank his victims with a rod and shout "Spanko!" before running away.
  • There's a Russian village where every resident is a tightrope walker.
  • About 7% of all humans who have ever lived are alive today.
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