KEY POINTS:
They were all rather on the short side and helped engender the belief that men of below average height are more aggressive than their taller peers.
But now the so-called "Napoleon complex" or "short man syndrome" - which determines that 80 per cent of the population believe that small men are angry men - has been put to the test by scientists who have established that, on average, it is the tall men that are more likely to become the aggressor in conflict situations.
The research is likely to be welcomed by shorter men, who have complained that they face discrimination and more challenges in life, compared to their taller compatriots.
Research has already shown that shorter men tend to earn less and are deemed less attractive to women (although the three times married Tom Cruise might disagree).
In research conducted for a BBC3 programme, "F... Off, I'm Small" the University of Central Lancashire, told 10 men below 1.65m and 10 men of average height, that they were going to be tested for their physical attributes, reaction times and eye-hand co-ordination.
In fact, they were participating in a revolutionary aggression experiment called the chopstick game, the world's first test for short man syndrome.
Paired in different heights, they duelled across tables with wooden sticks, used like swords, but one of the subjects had been briefed to deliberately provoke the other by hitting them across the knuckles, rather than the sticks.
If short man syndrome were true, the shorter participants would have been more likely to respond aggressively.
However, heart monitors attached to the participants showed that it was the taller men who reacted more aggressively to the provocation.
Dr Mike Eslea, the psychologist from the University who led the research said: "The results were consistent with the view that small man syndrome is a myth. When people see a short man being aggressive, they are likely to think it is due to his size, simply because that attribute is obvious and grabs their attention.
"But really it makes no more sense to say that, for example, Dennis Wise, [the footballer], is aggressive because he is small, than it would to say that Robbie Savage [also a footballer] is aggressive because he has blonde hair".
Wise, now manager of Leeds United, was noted for his aggressive presence. Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager once reportedly said that Wise "could start a fight in an empty room".
Savage, who plays for Blackburn Rovers, is also known for being a forceful player.
The BBC documentary, part of the Body Image series, followed stuntman and actor Paul Lowe as he demonstrated how life is difficult for him and other short people.
The documentary also interviewed a man who claims not to have had a relationship for eight years because he is small, and men who have had their legs lengthened and taken growth hormones in an attempt to increase their height.
Among Mr Lowe's many day-to-day problems highlighted in the programme is the somewhat embarrassing issue he often faces when he wants to visit a public toilet.
And so perhaps we know now what turned Stalin and the others into despots - like Mr Lowe, they probably could not reach the wall-mounted urinal.
The short ...
* Napoleon Bonaparte
Psychologist Alfred Adler named the "Napoleon complex" after him. Historians disagree whether he was 1.58m (5ft 2in) or 1.68m (5ft 6in) tall.
Josef Stalin
* According to police records from 1902, the Russian despot measured "2 archin, 4 vershoks". An archin is 71cm and a vershok 4.4cm, suggesting he was 1.63m (5ft 4in).
Josef Goebbels
* The Minister of Propaganda and Public Enlightenment in Nazi Germany - nicknamed "the malicious dwarf" - was 1.65m (5ft 5in).
... And tall of it
Saddam Hussein
* The former Iraqi dictator, notorious for mass killings, inter-party "cleansings" and murderous whims, towered over most of his rivals at 1.88m (6ft 2in).
Idi Amin
* At 1.93m (6ft 4in), the former President of Uganda was as tall as his regime was brutal. His 10th son, Jaffar, once said most of his brothers were taller than their father.
Osama Bin Laden
* The al Qaeda leader is described by the FBI as being tall - 1.94m (6ft 4in) - and thin, weighing in the region of 75kg (165lb).
- INDEPENDENT
