Brain Snacks: Tasty Tidbits of Knowledge
Marlowe. Christopher Marlowe. Okay, that might not have a very good ring to it, but nevertheless, many people believe that Christopher Marlowe was a government spy, recruited while he was a student at Cambridge for secret missions in Europe. Yeah, we bet you didn't see that one coming. (source)
Edward Alleyn (aka Ned Alleyn), the guy who the part of Barabas was written for, was famous enough that he's featured in Shakespeare in Love (which is how we gauge whether you were a big deal in the Elizabethan Drama Scene). He's played by Ben Affleck, which is kind of weird because we then have to picture Ben Affleck playing Barabas. Also, he comes off as a total diva. But hilarious. (source)
The Knights of Malta (aka The Knights Hospitaller) actually won the 1565 Siege of the Malta.After nearly five months of fighting, a force of about 7,000 Maltese emerged victorious over nearly 50,000 Ottomans (note to the director of 300: this is how it's done), but not before enough violence had gone down that it's remembered as one of the bloodiest sieges in history. (source)