Fall in Love With This Quiz on History’s Famous Couples

Scientists Marie and Pierre Curie married in 1895, and later became the first married couple to win the Nobel Prize. They were awarded the honor in the field of physics in 1903. Though Pierre died just three years later, Marie continued her research and won another Nobel Prize — this time in chemistry — in 1911. All told, six married couples have won the Nobel Prize.

Edward VIII ascended to the British throne in 1936 upon the death of his father, King George V. Yet prior to his reign, Edward had fallen in love with American divorcée Wallis Simpson. Many in the church and government disapproved, but rather than end his relationship with Simpson, Edward abdicated the throne on December 10, 1936.

When Antinoüs, the lover of Roman Emperor Hadrian, drowned in 130 CE, the emperor was beside himself with grief. To honor his lost love, Hadrian had him declared a deity. He then built temples to Antinoüs throughout Rome and even named a city after him, Antinoöpolis.

In the summer of 1907, pianist Alice B. Toklas left her family in San Francisco and headed to Paris. Not long after arriving in the City of Light, she met writer Gertrude Stein. The two were immediately smitten and were rarely apart from that moment forward. They lived together in Paris for many years, with Toklas supporting Stein’s writing while they made a happy home together. They remained devoted to each other until Stein’s death in 1946.

Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward met on Broadway in the 1950s, and reunited several years later in Hollywood, having both made names for themselves on the big screen. They began a romance while filming “The Long, Hot Summer.” The two married in 1958, and continued to make movies, both together and separately, for the next decade. In 1968, Newman directed his wife in the film “​​Rachel, Rachel,” for which Woodward earned an Oscar nomination for Best Actress.

Victoria had not yet ascended the throne of England when she met her future husband, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg, in 1836. But by the following year, she had taken her place as the reigning queen. As such, Albert was barred from proposing to Victoria, as tradition dictated only the monarch could offer marriage. Victoria proposed to her love, and they wed in a lavish ceremony on February 10, 1840.

When painters Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera met in the 1920s, it was at a meeting of the Mexican Communist Party. Both well-known artists in their own right, the two married in 1929 and had a fraught but loving relationship. They endured multiple extramarital affairs, explosive arguments, and even divorced in 1939, only to remarry a year later. Their tumultuous relationship was immortalized in their art.

When writers Mary and Percy Shelley began their relationship in the early 1810s, it was in a place that seems apropos for the author of “Frankenstein”: a cemetery. The two had to meet in secret, as Percy was already married. The young couple married two weeks after his wife died in 1816, and remained together until Percy’s death in 1822. Even after his death, Mary stayed devoted to him, even keeping his heart in her desk.

France’s King Louis XV had a long affair with his mistress Madame de Pompadour. The two met in 1745 at Versailles, where they had both attended a masked ball to celebrate the wedding of the king’s son, Dauphin Louis Ferdinand. That same year, Louis XV moved his mistress into Versailles, where a secret staircase linked his room with her apartments. She remained a loyal friend and adviser to the king, and stayed by his side until her death in 1764.

Juan and Eva Perón married in 1945, and one year later, Juan took office as president of Argentina. Though she was never officially elected to office, Eva — nicknamed Evita — became a powerful political leader herself, and was the de facto minister of health and labor. Eva helped enact the passage of Argentinian women’s suffrage and was a formidable political influence, inspiring the hit Broadway musical and movie adaptation “Evita.”

In 1968, in front of 7,000 people at a joint concert, Johnny Cash proposed to June Carter. The two country musicians met backstage at an Elvis concert in 1956 and Johnny instantly fell for June, though he was married at the time. He and his first wife divorced in 1967, and he immediately began to court Carter. She refused him several times, but finally accepted his proposal in front of the huge crowd. They were married for 35 years, until Carter’s death in 2003, just a few months before Cash’s own passing.

English King Henry VIII’s love life was turbulent, to say the least, marked by divorces, executions, and dissolutions. He married six different women in his life, ostensibly in pursuit of a male heir. After divorcing his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, he married Anne Boleyn, then Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, and Catherine Parr.

Five years after the death of her husband John F. Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy remarried. In 1968, Jackie married shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, taking his last name and becoming “Jackie O.” The couple had known each other for several years, though their relationship grew strained shortly after their marriage. They remained married until Aristotle’s death in 1975.

By the time Grace Kelly met Prince Rainier of Monaco in 1955, she had already earned an Oscar for her role in “The Country Girl.” But when the pair married a year later, Kelly became princess of Monaco and abandoned acting, moving to Monaco full time. The pair had three children together. Sadly, her fairy tale ended in tragedy when she died in a car accident at the age of 52.

When Cleopatra met Mark Antony in Turkey in 41 BCE, she wanted to make a splash to capture the Roman general’s attention. And that’s exactly what she did. The queen of Egypt arrived in a golden boat with purple sails. She was dressed as Venus, the Roman goddess of love, and had children dressed like Cupid surrounding her. Antony was instantly smitten with her, and their love affair sparked conflict between the two great ancient empires.