July 15

On the 15th in 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte found himself for the second time in British hands. He had previously escaped from his exile on Elba, returned to France and raised an army that he would use to once again take over most of Europe. After his defeat to the British at Waterloo, Napoleon knew that the game was up. Of course, he plea-bargained, doesn’t everyone? He then surrendered to the captain of the HMS Bellerophon, Sir Frederick Lewis Maitland. He stepped onboard the ship fully confident that by throwing his imperial self on the mercy of the British monarch he would be allowed to live in freedom and luxury in London or be allowed to change planes and simply head off to America. The plea deal must have not worked out though, because upon surrendering he was immediately sent with, horror of horrors, only a few servants to St. Helena in the South Atlantic where he would spend the rest of his days, when compared to the Tower Of London, in luxury. (The picture was done much earlier in Napoleon’s career. As for the look, as Billy Joel pointed out, all it takes is looks and a whole lotta money)

The Bellerophon had a heck of a career. She participated in the battles, the Glorious First of June, the Battle of the Nile and the Battle of Trafalgar. She met an inglorious end, though. In 1815, she was converted into a prison ship before being broken up in 1835.