Historical Highlights: Albert I of Belgium

Ok, today I'd like to introduce a new segment on this blog that I like to call "Historical Highlights." basically this is where I'll take a person or an event from history that I feel is often overlooked and put them in the spotlight. And to start off I'd like to introduce quite possibly the coolest king ever, Albert I of Belgium!

So, what made this guy so awesome? Well, besides the fact that he liked to disguise himself as an ordinary person so he could talk to his subjects and find out what their problems were so he could fix them, and besides the fact that he took the Belgian Colony of the Congo, which had been run as a slave state under his uncle Leopold II, and turned it into an infinitely more humane place, the main reason I think he's the most underrated leader of the 20th century is that this dude actually took personal command of his army during the darkest days of World War I, when over 90 percent of his country had been invaded by the Germans. And not only that, but he liked to stay in the trenches with his men, and endured the same hardships of shelling, shooting, and mud slogging that they did. He was like a 20th century version of the medieval kings who would fight right alongside their men!

Also, he had a really awesome mustache.

Seriously, this guy deserves to have a movie about him, stat. He could be played by Christopher Walken and everything! And if not a movie, I think he at least deserves a spot in the next Civilization game.