6 illegitimate children who grew up to change the world

Probably the most famous polymath in history, Leonardo da Vinci was the son of an influential notary and a young peasant woman. He never knew his mother and was raised by his father, his relatives and several stepmothers.

In 1066, William, duke of Normandy, changed the course of British history by defeating King Harold II at the Battle of Hastings. He became the King and marked the beginning of a completely different era. Back in France, the new king was known as William the Bastard – he was the only child of Robert I and his mistress Herleva, a tanner’s daughter.

One of the Founding Fathers of the US and his older brother were illegitimate children born to a Scottish wannabe merchant and a woman who was married to another man.

The man who freed Chile from Spanish rule was another legendary person born out of wedlock. Bernardo was born to a Spanish officer and the daughter of the member of the Chillán council. He spent his childhood in his mother's family and was always financially supported by his father but never met him.

As a child, Monroe even thought that Clark Gable was her father, as her mother told her that a man she had dated "had a thin mustache like Clark Gable". Besides that, there was no sign of her real father. Monroe spent most of her childhood in foster homes, as her mother was mentally unstable.

This iconic figure of the computer industry was born to two students of the University of Wisconsin. His biological father was a student activist from Syria, and his mother was Swiss-American. They gave up their son for adoption to the Jobs family, though they married several years later and had a daughter.