So, Ichabod Crane wasn't a self-portrait, then

The delicious Washington Irving was apparently such a paragon of hotness that Mary Shelley, of Frankenstein fame, had an (unrequited) crush on him. I can see why.

We'll always have Moscow

If I tear down that wall, will hunky young Mikhail Gorbachev be on the other side?

Allegro moderato in WOW minor

Ladies and gentlemen, Franz Schubert.

Much cuter than the guy in the pizza adverts

Baron Manfred von Richthofen (yes, he was an actual baron), German WWI fighter pilot, ace-of-aces, and timeless phenomenal awe-inspiring badass. EIGHTY air combat victories, people. I submit that few men have ever been more courageous than the air corps pilots of the early twentieth century, who strapped themselves into rickety, single-occupant, wood-and-canvas, barely controllable airplanes and waged freezing open-air dogfights, sometimes mere feet from each other in the sky, close enough to look each other in the eyes, with no protection other than a leather helmet and a pair of goggles.

Richthofen was buried with full military honors on the battlefield by the opposing Allied forces, who laid a wreath on his grave that said "To Our Gallant and Worthy Foe". Speaks volumes about the man, I'd say.

In France, he would be hunted with only his cunning to protect him

This intense and scrumptious specimen is Simon Renard, French ambassador to the court of Mary I of England. His last name means 'fox'; a perfect moniker for him, no? He was reputedly a diplomat of incredible efficacy, and I believe it. Tell me you could refuse him anything if he were looking at you like that!

John Singleton Copley

Eighteenth-century painter to the stars, and certifiable dreamboat. Lucky for us that he turned the brush on himself (if you will).

The yummiest thing to come out of Belgium since waffles

Behold, King Leopold III.

William Lamb, English Prime Minister

Also mentor to the young Queen Victoria; 2nd Viscount Melbourne; and, oh yes, prime slab of utter gorgeousness. His wife, the notorious head case Lady Caroline Lamb, famously cheated on him with Lord Byron, and though LB was no slouch in the looks department himself, you sort of have to wonder what she was thinking.

I do love a talented pianist

Submitted by Aimee, who says: "A little Brahms, anyone?"

HOLY COW. YES, PLEASE.

A Moveable Feast, indeed

Well, hello there, Ernest Hemingway.

The South will...er, rise again

And now for our very first Hot Man of Historical Significance, Robert E. Lee. Brilliant Civil War general (such a pity he fought on the wrong side--a decision that was apparently extremely difficult for him), related by marriage to George Washington, possessor of a very fine estate at a lovely little place called Arlington. Most of us tend to picture him as he looked later in life in his white-bearded photos, so it might come as a surprise that he was a certifiable hunk in his younger days.