An ancient Greek mathematician and philosopher, Pythagoras is regarded as one of the most influential personalities ever lived in the world.

All we know about Pythagoras is that he introduced the famous 'Pythagorean theorem' ("in a right - angled triangle, the square on the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares on the other two sides"). But there are much more about him than you ever read in your high school books. Born in Samos, he devoted his whole life into mathematics, astronomy, philosophy, music, politics and religion. He founded the religion Pythagoreanism and influenced thousands of people in the western countries. Here, we have gathered some interesting and lesser-known Pythagoras facts that you should know about.

1. Pythagoras claimed that earth is not at the centre of the universe. He had his own theories to prove this. He also believed that the earth is round in shape.
2. He had a number of disciples who used to treat him like a God and follow everything he said. They're known as Pythagoreans.
3. He visited Egypt at the age of 22 and lived there for more than 20 years.
4. Pythagoras used to consider mathematics as a holy subject and believed that there were numbers behind the whole universe. According to the Pythagoreans, 7, 8 and 10 were respectively "the number of wisdom", "the number of justice" and "the most sacred number of all".
5. The Pythagoreans used to practice some weird laws such as "one must put the right shoe on first", "one must not travel on public roads", "one should not eat beans", "one must not stir a fire with iron", "one should never look into a mirror that has light shining on it", "one must not pick up anything that's fallen on the ground" etc.
6. According to some researchers, the existence of an irrational number was first discovered by a Pythagorean named Hippasus.
7. It is said that Pythagoras had synesthesia, a condition in which one hears colour, sees music and tastes shapes.
8. Many believe that some of Pythagoras's theorems or ideas were actually found by his students. Also, some historians have raised the question if he was the main person behind the famous Pythagorean theorem.
9. He believed that the human soul is immortal and it enters a new body after death. This idea was known as metempsychosis.
10. Some historians say that the Pythagorean Society had been attacked in 480 BC and then, Pythagoras escaped to Metapontium and starved himself to death.

Pythagoras was truly an exceptional personality. His principles influenced some renowned philosophers like Plato and Aristotle.