Harry Houdini

A pioneer of stage magic, escapology and stunts, Harry Houdini remains one of the most famous performers in history even a century after his death. You probably knew he could escape any straitjacket or pair of handcuffs, but you might not have known he also had the key to the hearts of millions with his dashing good looks.

Ernest Hemingway

One of the most celebrated figures in American literature, Ernest Hemingway was every bit as renowned for his adventurous, alcohol-fueled man’s man lifestyle as he was prose. He’s mostly remembered as a somewhat grizzled older man with a thick moustache, but as can be seen from this picture, he was quite the fresh-faced gent in his younger years.

Jackson Pollock

Jackson Pollock shook the art world with his radical abstract expressionist approach, creating iconic works from dripping paint onto the canvas. His work may not have been to all tastes, but one look at the artist as a younger man and we’re sure you’ll agree he was pretty tasty.

Jack Kerouac

The quintessential beat poet, Jack Kerouac had a major impact on the cultural shifts of the 1960s through both his poems and such novels as On the Road and The Dharma Bums. Yet on top of impacting the hearts and minds of readers, the young Kerouac also had the power to send hearts aflutter with his powerful physique, square jaw and dreamy eyes.

Hermann Rorschach

Hermann Rorschach is best known for the famous psychological inkblot test that to which he gave his name (as well as inspiring the anti-hero of the graphic novel and movie Watchmen). You might not have known, however, that the groundbreaking Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst was so good-looking. Surely we all see the exact same thing looking at this particular Rorschach picture: a bona fide stud.

Colonel Sanders

We all know what Colonel Harland David Sanders looked like, right? That same kindly white-haired and mustachioed old Southern gentleman that smiles down to us from every KFC sign to this day. However, back when he was a private in the US Army (in fact, he never officially rose beyond that rank), the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken was a clean-shaven, handsome youngster.

Charlie Chaplin

Comedic actor and filmmaker Charlie Chaplin has long been one of the most instantly recognizable figures in the world thanks to his iconic ‘Little Tramp’ persona with his bowler hat, ill-fitting suit and toothbrush mustache. Out of that costume, however, Chaplin was a much more handsome fellow than one might have imagined.

Al Capone

Few figures from American history enjoy quite the same notoriety as Al Capone, the Brooklyn-born gangster who became a genuine kingpin of crime in Prohibition-era Chicago. We’re certainly not about to make light of the fact that Capone was either directly or indirectly responsible for the murders of over 400 people, but we also can’t deny he was a handsome guy in his youth.

Tenzing Norgay

To this day, few challenges seem quite so insurmountable as climbing Mount Everest. Tenzing Norgay was one of the first two people to do just that back in 1953, alongside Edmund Hillary. For that achievement, Tenzing will always be widely admired – but it’s also fair to assume he had his fair share of admirers just for looking the way he did.

Salvador Dali

The name Salvador Dali will always be synonymous with surrealism. The Spanish artist was considered every bit as uncanny and larger-than-life as his artwork, particularly thanks to his famously long, thin, extravagant moustache. However, particularly in the days before his facial hair got quite so out there, Dali was undeniably a looker. We’d say he was even hot enough to make a clock melt.