We know, we know - history can seem like a dud. Learning about people who aren't even on this Earth anymore - their birth, experiences, failures, and all those things - can look boring. And sometimes ...

2. In 1137, a 14-year-old girl named Eleanor became the "greatest heiress in the known world." She was, in her own right, the Duchess of Aquitaine and ruled it independently through her two marriages.