19. Churchill's Mother Was American... And She Gave Birth To Him In A Cloakroom During A Party At Blenheim Palace
The "British Bulldog" was actually half-American - because his mother, Jennie Jerome, was born in Brooklyn, New York City, before moving to the UK. Bizarrely, Winston Churchill (pictured on the right above, along with his brother Jack) was born prematurely - and her water-breaking came as such a surprise to his mother that she went into labour in a cloakroom at Blenheim Palace while attending a party there. Not quite how most people would have imagined Churchill arriving into the world, is it?