These famous people took the concept of leaving their final wishes in their last will and testament to a whole new level. Here are some strange will requests by famous people:
Napoleon Bonaparte: Wanted his head shaved and his hair divided among his friends.
Ben Franklin: Left his daughter 408 diamonds but stated that she could never turn the diamonds into jewelry “and thereby introduce the expensive, vain and useless fashion of wearing jewels in this country”.
Harry Houdini: Asked his wife to hold an annual séance to try to contact his spirit. Houdini and his wife even developed a secret code so they would know if it really was his spirit.
Charles Dickens: Dictated wardrobe requirements for his funeral service, stating that “those attending my funeral wear no scarf, cloak, black bow, long hatband, or other such revolting absurdity”.
William Shakespeare: Writer of numerous romantic works, Shakespeare left his wife his “second-best bed”.
William Randolph Hearst: Hearst was rumored to have illegitimate children but denied such rumor. As a result, Hearst stated in his will that anyone who could prove they were his child would receive $1.00.
George Bernard Shaw: Left funds to create a new alphabet called the “Shaw Alphabet.” The new alphabet must be phonetic, different from the Latin alphabet and contain at least 40 letters. The Shaw Alphabet was realized in 1950.
Gere Roddenberry: The Star Trek creator requested a space burial. In 1997, his remains were in fact launched into space. His wife’s remains followed in 2009.
Fred Baur: The creator of the Pringles can. Baur was so happy with his creation that he asked to be buried in a Pringles can.
John B. Kelly, Sr.: Father of Grace Kelly, stated in his will that Grace curtail her spending habits. Kelly asked Grace “not bankrupt the Principality of Monaco with the bills about her clothing.”
John Bowman: This Vermont socialite’s family passed away before him, and Bowman was convinced that the whole family would come back to life upon his death. Upon Bowman’s death a trust was created with $50,000 to employ staff to take care of his home and cook meals for the family every day, just in case they all came back to life.
Ed Headrick: Headrick, the inventor of the Frisbee, asked his family to mold his ashes into a limited edition Frisbee.
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