When was World War II? What was the Berlin Wall? Who invented the cotton gin? This is what you’ll learn about in high school history class. The important people, places, and things that shaped the societies we know today. You’ll learn dates, facts, and names, many of which you’ll forget as soon as the test is over.

But what’s in the subtext of history? Ever wonder about the interesting little tidbits that slip through the cracks? Here are 10 things your history teacher forgot to mention.

10 Saddam Hussein’s Key To Detroit

“He was [a] very kind person, very generous, very cooperative with the West,” said Reverend Jacob Yasso of Chaldean Sacred Heart in Detroit. The Chaldean religion is a sect of Catholicism prevalent in Iraq, a population that is dominated by Muslims. It is practiced by tens of thousands of Americans of Middle Eastern descent.

The person in question? Saddam Hussein.

In 1979, Yasso congratulated Hussein on his presidency and Hussein generously donated $250,000 to Yasso’s church. The following year, Yasso visited Iraq as a guest of their government. With permission of the mayor of Detroit, he presented Hussein with the key to the city.^[1]

Hussein’s response? “I heard there was a debt on your church,” he said. “How much is it?” Hussein gave the church another $200,000. Yasso later changed his mind about Hussein. “The job the United States trusted to him is done,” Yasso said. “Now he’s no good.”

9 Al Capone’s One Mistake

Al Capone was the king of crime in Chicago during the Roaring Twenties. He ruled a criminal empire during Prohibition by controlling gambling, bootlegging, prostitution, and most other crime in Chicago.

The FBI knew of his criminal activities. But they couldn’t take any action against Capone because none of his crimes were federal offenses. They had to sit by and watch local law enforcement fail to take him down, a wait that became even more infuriating after the Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre.

Finally, in 1929, Capone slipped up. When he was subpoenaed to appear before a federal grand jury as a witness in February, Capone claimed that he was sick at home and unable to make it. However, FBI agents quickly found him in Miami, out and about and as healthy as ever.

Capone was cited for contempt of court and sent to jail. However, they were unable to hold him and he was released on bond. But that was the beginning of the end.

When Capone was finally tried for the contempt of court citation, a federal judge sentenced him to six months in prison. This gave federal Treasury agents enough time to gather evidence that Capone had failed to pay his income taxes. In the end, the murdering, devious crime boss had forgotten to keep an eye on his real enemy: the IRS.^[2]

8 The Longest War In History

The longest war in history was an accident. In 1651, the Dutch were fighting with the Royalists and had driven them back to the Isles of Scilly. Eager to make up for the cost of the war, the Dutch sent warships to the islands to demand reparations.

It didn’t work. So Admiral Maarten Tromp officially declared war on the Isles of Scilly. Whether Tromp had the authority to do so remains unclear. But after forcing the Royalists to surrender three months later, the Dutch sailed back to the Netherlands. However, they forgot an important bit of last-minute business: declaring peace with the Isles of Scilly.

The matter was all but forgotten until 1985. At that time, Roy Duncan, a local Scilly historian, contacted the Dutch embassy asking if there was any truth to the preposterous rumors he had uncovered of an ongoing war between the two nations. The embassy turned up documents that seemed to indicate that the two nations had been at war for 335 years.

Duncan quickly asked the Dutch ambassador, Rein Huydecoper, to sign a peace treaty.^[3] On April 17, 1986, Huydecoper signed the agreement to end the bloodless, nearly forgotten, longest war in history.

7 The Shortest War In History

A mysterious death. A shady relative. A colonial British presence. The perfect ingredients for war.

In 1896, Hamad bin Thuwaini was ruling over Zanzibar, a protectorate of the British Empire, after being instated as a “puppet” sultan by the British. His reign had lasted just three years when he suddenly died in his palace on August 25. Rumor has it that his cousin Khalid bin Barghash had him poisoned, a belief seemingly confirmed by the fact that Barghash quickly moved into the palace and assumed the status of sultan without British permission.

Basil Cave, the chief British diplomat in the area, caught wind of the affair and didn’t approve of the change in leadership. Cave requested the assistance of British military warships stationed nearby. While he awaited permission from Britain to open fire, Barghash gathered his own surprisingly well-armed forces.

At 9:00 AM on August 27, Cave gave the order to begin bombarding the palace. At 9:02 AM, Khalid’s army was essentially destroyed and the palace began to crumble. By 9:40 AM, the sultan had pulled down his flag and the British ended their attack. In 38 minutes, the shortest war in history was over.^[4]

6 The Pope’s Erotic Novel

Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini was one of the most read authors of the early Renaissance. He was an educated and eloquent man, and his book was filled with historical and literary allusions. It opens with a quote from Virgil’s Aeneid. It is also one of the earliest examples of an epistolary novel, a book that tells a story through letters.

This book, The Tale of Two Lovers, follows the love story of Euryalus, an assistant to the duke of Austria, and Lucretia, a married woman. It is absolutely rife with erotic descriptions and imagery, most likely contributing to its widespread popularity.

Later, Piccolomini became widely known again, though this time as Pope Pius II. He condemned slavery, supported the crusades, and started one of the first city planning projects in Europe. However, he retained his literary bent, with his autobiography, Commentaries, serving as his most important and acclaimed work.

The Tale of Two Lovers was widely read after his election to the papacy^[5] and remains so to this day, both for its own merit and the illicit pleasure taken in an erotic novel written by a pope.

5 The Hatchet-Wielding Prohibitionist

Carrie A. Moore was born in Kentucky in 1846. Her first husband was an alcoholic who could not support her or their child. He died six months after the child was born. Later, after marrying preacher David Nation, Carrie became deeply religious. She also became incredibly involved in the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and working with prisoners.

During her work in jail, she began to believe that alcohol was the root of the prisoners’ problems. So she started her crusade against the illegal bars active in Kansas. She and another member of the WCTU attempted to close down bars by standing outside and loudly singing hymns and praying.

After supposedly receiving a message from God, Carrie turned to violence.^[6] She threw bricks at bars, and someone handed her a hatchet, which she used to continue her destruction of bars and their liquor supplies.

Carrie Nation—a strong woman who was 183 centimeters (6’0″) tall—quickly drew national attention. The WCTU awarded her a medallion with the inscription: “To the Bravest Woman in Kansas.”

In 1903, Carrie A. Nation officially became Carry A. Nation, claiming that she wanted to “Carry A Nation for Prohibition.” Though she did not live to see it, her hatchet-wielding legacy paved the way for the Eighteenth Amendment, which banned the manufacture and sale of alcohol, and the Nineteenth Amendment, which gave women the right to vote.

4 The Oneida Society

Chances are, your silverware comes from the Oneida Community. In 1848, John Humphrey Noyes left Vermont after being accused of adultery. He established his own community based on the religious belief of Perfectionism, which he adopted while studying at Yale Divinity School.

He carefully selected 300 members, all of whom lived in a system of complete communism. The religion’s central tenet was complex marriage,^[7] where every man was married to every woman and vice versa and all children were raised communally. Monogamy was heavily frowned upon, and younger members of the society were introduced to the “holy pleasures of the flesh” by an assigned older member of the community.

Ultimately, those outside the community—called “The World” by the Oneida Community—accused the members of immorality. In 1881, the commune dissolved. What remains of the community is Oneida Ltd., the largest manufacturer of stainless steel cutlery in the nation.

The transition from religious commune to successful corporation remains poorly documented, but there is no question as to the origins of Oneida Ltd. It is the only flatware maker with a factory in the United States, leaving an untarnished legacy in the wake of its utopian experiment.

3 The Cat Telephone

Move over, Schrodinger. In 1929, Ernest Wever and Charles Bray, researchers at Princeton University, turned a live cat into a working telephone. They removed part of the cat’s skull to add an electrode to the right auditory nerve and to another part of the cat’s body. Then the researchers used a cable to attach the electrodes to a vacuum tube amplifier, and the amplified signals were sent to a telephone receiver in a separate, soundproof room.

“Speech was transmitted with great fidelity,” the researchers said. “Simple commands, counting, and the like were easily received. Indeed, under good conditions, the system was employed as a means of communication between operating and soundproof rooms.”^[8]

The success, however, could have been a fluke. To ensure that it wasn’t, Wever and Bray killed the cat. The sound faded and died, proving that the functionality of the telephone came from the life of the cat.

2 The Dancing Plague Of Strasbourg

In July 1518 in Strasbourg, France, Frau Troffea began to dance. People laughed and clapped at the lone woman dancing in the streets to no discernible music. But they slowly stopped laughing when she did not stop dancing. She danced day and night for six days.

Her dancing fever proved contagious. Within a week, 34 people had joined her. By the end of a month, there were 400. At the height of the dancing fever, 15 people died each day from heart attacks, strokes, and exhaustion.

The town’s government decided to lean into the storm, constructing a makeshift dance floor and hiring musicians for the dancers in hopes that they would attain their fill of dancing and stop. However, these measures did nothing but encourage others to hop on the dance floor and join the craze.

After a month, the boogying suddenly stopped^[9] and the dancers went home. Experts still disagree about what caused the craze. Many think that it was a social phenomenon caused by the stress of the times and not a mass medical disorder as some have speculated.

1 The Great Emu War

Would you fight an emu? In 1932, Australia tried.

Finding it difficult to grow and sell their crops, farmers in Western Australia were struggling to stay afloat during the Great Depression. It didn’t help that their attempts to grow wheat had coincided with the emus’ breeding season and the birds were migrating inland.

Finding the cultivated land of the wheat fields appetizing, the emus ate the crops, spoiled the wheat they didn’t eat, and left gaping holes in the fences. Dismayed, the farmers appealed to the government.

Minister of Defense Sir George Pearce heard about the plight of the farmers and readily agreed to aid them in their war on the emus. Major G.P.W. Meredith of the Seventh Heavy Battery of the Royal Australian Artillery led the charge, arming soldiers with machine guns and chasing after any word of emu sightings, ready to face the enemy.

The emus, however, proved to have a military strategy that far outstripped that of the Australian army. The flightless birds employed the guerrilla tactic of scattering in small groups, rendering the Australians’ weaponry ineffective. The Australians conceded defeat,^[10] put down their machine guns, and headed home.

In 1934, 1943, and 1948, when the farmers again requested military assistance to fight off the dastardly birds, the government refused.

If you ever want to waste a few hours of your day on a frustrating task, try to find the last time in history during which no wars were being fought anywhere in the world.  It’s extremely hard to do and some folks suggest there actually hasn’t been a time when there was no war. Depressing!

With so much fighting afoot in our history it stands to reason many people have been involved in that fighting. In modern times, there’s an official process for this in most countries which require citizens to enlist so they can be formally recognized as soldiers. But not every formally enlisted soldier is exactly who you think they are.

10. Wojtek Was a Soldier in the Polish Army… and Also a Bear

Animals and war have a long history. Horses were used well before we have motorized vehicles, elephants had their day, and dogs still show up in fields of war all around the world. But most of those animals are not officially recognized as actual soldiers with rank. Some, however, rise above.

A Syrian brown bear named Wojtek was given the rank of private in the Polish army during WWII. It was a group of POWs that first discovered the baby bear in Iran as they traveled through the mountains from Siberia to Egypt. They carried the bear with them, feeding and caring for it, even as their release was negotiated and they were sent to Italy to fight with Allied Forces.

Wojtek grew up with the soldiers, even learning to smoke and drink beer, which are obviously not the best habits for a bear to have. It also learned to carry ammo boxes during battles on the front line though soldiers later stated it was only carrying spent shells, not live ammo.

The bear also learned how to salute and march. He wrestled and boxed and played soccer, too. He became the company’s morale officer, after a fashion. They even took on a bear holding an artillery shell as their insignia. He was eventually promoted to corporal.

After the war, the company went to Scotland, and Wojtek joined them. He helped around a farm and continued to play with his comrades until the company disbanded. Wojtek spent the rest of his life playing and chilling in Scotland, including enjoying the occasional cigarette and beer.

9. A Six-Year-Old Girl Was Enlisted in the Royal Navy in Australia

The armed forces of any country are subject to a seemingly endless chain of rules and edicts and procedures. There are codes of conduct, formal definitions and regulations and all kinds of red tape and bureaucracy around even the simplest of things. Some of it is remarkable nonsense, too. But at least the same nonsense can be manipulated in a pinch.

In 1920 there were strict rules for the Australian Navy regarding who could and could not be on board a military ship. For instance, under no circumstances was a woman allowed on board, although the Navy itself simply says “civilians” could not board. This would not have been a problem until the day Nancy Bentley was bit by a snake.

We all know Australian snakes are not to be trifled with. Nancy was just six-years-old and a snake bite could easily have been lethal for her. Worse, she and her father were nowhere near a hospital. But they were close to HMAS Sydney, an Australian warship.

Nancy’s father rowed her to where the ship was docked and begged for help. Captain Hayley knew regulations would not permit the girl’s treatment on board. But it would allow for a sailor to be treated. The captain ordered the girl to be formally enlisted into the Navy and she was brought on board.

The girl was given the rank of “mascot” and received first aid treatment before arrangements were made to get her to a proper hospital. Nancy made it to Hobart and survived her ordeal. Eight days after being enlisted she was officially discharged.

8. Just Nuisance Was an Official Sailor in the Royal Navy

Several dogs have saved lives during wartime and performed heroic acts that were later officially recognized. But the Great Dane called Just Nuisance seems to be the only one to officially make it into the British Royal Navy.

The dog was raised in Simon’s Town, South Africa, near a British naval base. The sailors were fond of the dog and would often walk him and feed him treats. He would often sleep on the gangplank of the HMS Neptune. Because he was so large, almost 6.6 feet when standing on his hind legs, this made him a nuisance to get around, hence the name.

So how did Nuisance become enlisted? Because he was a nuisance. The dog wanted to go on shore leave with the soldiers when they traveled to Cape Town. But train officials hated having the dog on board and started sending threatening letters to his official owner. Some included threats to put Nuisance down.

The sailors, who loved the dog, took this up the chain of command. They didn’t want to lose the dog either and their commanding officer, intent on keeping up morale, found a solution. The Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Navy enlisted Nuisance. This meant he was entitled to free travel on trains so the rail company couldn’t complain about unpaid fares for the massive beast.

His enlistment included full paperwork where his first name was listed as “Just” because it couldn’t be blank. He was given a medical exam and signed it with his own paw print. His official rank was Ordinary Seaman and though he never saw combat, he proved an valued member of the Navy on land. So much so, in fact, he was later promoted to Able Seaman. 

Nuisance had an accident when he was seven and the Navy was forced to put him to sleep. He was given full military honors including a Royal Marine firing party. 

7. William Windsor Was a Goat in the British Army

While some animals do well and get promoted through the ranks, that’s not always the case. A goat named William Windsor actually got demoted for his behavior as a soldier in the British Army. 

William, also called Billy, was a Lance Corporal with the First Battalion Royal Welsh, could not keep in step during a parade in honor of the Queen back in 2006. He was demoted to Fusilier.

Billy was not the only regimental goat, of course, as monarchs have been presenting them since Victoria’s time in honor of a goat that is said to have led Welsh soldiers from the Battle of Bunker Hill. In 2022, Lance Corporal Shenkin was on hand for the Proclamation of King Charles. 

6. Donald Duck Was an Army Sergeant

We can safely agree now that animals serving in the military is not super unusual. That means we need to kick it up a notch with an animal that isn’t even real. We need to talk about Sergeant Donald Duck.

As you may have noticed, Donald Duck has always been dressed as a sailor. This dates all the way back to 1934. By 1941 he was officially drafted into the US Army, as opposed to the Navy where he seemed like he would have fit in, though he found a place there later. In 1942 he appeared in military cartoons as part of the US propaganda machine during WWII. Disney had been losing money and a government contract to make films promoting their war efforts paid the bills. 

Disney produced several military and patriotic cartoons featuring Donald as an example of a solid American, even paying his taxes in what sounds like just a fascinating and exciting premise for a cartoon.

Donald also became an honorary member of the Navy and the Marines. Though he may not have been in the Air Force, his face appeared on the side of many planes. In 1984, 50 years after being enlisted, the director of Army staff officially gave Donald his discharge papers and released him from service. This was after his final promotion to the rank of sergeant.

5. Calvin Graham Joined the US Navy at Age Twelve

The youngest veteran in US history, Calvin Graham was only 12 when he joined the Navy. Graham had left home at age 11 back in 1941. He sold papers to support himself and so regularly read news of the war. The attack on Pearl Harbor convinced him to enlist.

To sell the lie, Graham began shaving, trying to get stubble. He faked a deeper voice and then forged papers signed by his mother and stamped with a stolen notary’s stamp. Things almost worked until the medical when the dentist saw his baby teeth and tried to give him the boot. Graham countered they had already let in 14-year-olds and he’d rat them out if he wasn’t allowed in, too. It worked.

Graham became an anti-aircraft gunner on the USS South Dakota. He helped shoot down 26 planes at Guadalcanal. Later, the Dakota took heavy damage and Graham got a face full of shrapnel, but he lived and helped his fellow soldiers. 

His mother saw footage of the vessel’s return. She called the Navy about enlisting a child and they responded by stripping Graham of his medals, dishonorably discharging him and throwing him in the brig. It wouldn’t be until 1977, after years of hardship and additional service and injuries, that President Carter overturned the discharge and restored his medals.

4. Momcilo Gavric Was a Soldier at Age Eight

You’ve probably heard a tale or two about a soldier signing up for service before they were 18. This was something that happened with some regularity during WWII. Children as young as 14 scammed their way into service by lying about their ages and we saw how Calvin Graham served at 12. Technically this is both illegal and frowned upon, as we don’t want children putting their lives on the line. But child soldiers are far from unheard of. One of the youngest ever was Momcilo Gravic, a Serbian soldier at 8.

As World War One was starting, Gravic’s village was attacked and his entire family killed alongside everyone else. Alone, the boy headed out to find the Serbian army. They took him in and, moved by his story, officially admitted him to the division. Three times a day he was to fire a cannon to avenge his family. 

Gravic stayed with the soldiers through many battles, even sustaining his own injuries. He attained the rank of corporal. At age twelve, when the war was over, his commanding officer gave him one last order. Head to London and finish school. 

3. Jean Thurel Was a French Soldier for Nearly a Century

You expect most soldiers to be young and physically fit if nothing else, it probably helps during the physical part of war like trying to not be shot or exploded. But there is certainly room for people with more years and experience in command positions. You want a general who has been through some stuff in charge, not a kid who just read about it. But how experienced are we talking about? In France, it’s very experienced.

Jean Thurel was still busy soldiering when he was 100. In 1787, King Louis XVI awarded him the Médallions des Deux Épées for the third time. It was given to honor 24 years of service. He joined the French military in 1716 when he was 18 and served during four separate wars. He was still serving in 1804 when he was 106.

2. Monte Gould Was America’s Oldest Basic Training Graduate

Joining the military is typically a young person’s game these days. Fresh out of highschool is when many sign up, or soon thereafter. But it doesn’t always play out like that. Monte Gould is an absolute exception, having graduated from the US Army’s basic training course at the ripe, old age of 59.

Gould is a Marine and Army Reserve veteran and went through boot camp for the Marines back in the late 70s. He finished the modern BCT in 2020 in the top 10% despite his age, proving sometimes experience and skill beat youthfulness when it counts. But he was also quick to point out that it was a hell of a lot easier in his old age and Marine boot camp would be impossible now.

1. The Mormon Battalion Was the Only Faith-Based Regiment 

Faith and military service have gone together for a long time but typically in a mostly pragmatic way. There are army chaplains but military service is not guided by any particular religious principles. In US history there has only ever been one entirely faith-based regiment – the Mormon Battalion.

In 1846, migrating Mormons appealed to the US government, and directly to President Polk, to help them. A man named Jesse Little proposed the President could use the Mormons to defend and fortify the West in exchange for aid. The President agreed and ordered the raising of a 500 man battalion. They would fight in the Mexican War. The Mormons agreed.

Though the battalion saw no combat, they endured one of the longest and most grueling marches in military history across 2,000 miles. They also had one official battle against wild cattle.

It takes work to make money on YouTube. It’s easy enough to start your own channel and takes just a few minutes to set up. You’re good to go as long as you are over eighteen and have a cellphone. Shoot your first video and wait for the money to start rolling in.

Well, it’s more complex than that because YouTube has a couple of milestones you must pass before your content can earn money. First, you need to have 1,000 subscribers, and second, your channel must have racked up 4,000 watch hours within the previous twelve months.

So you’ve bullied your relatives, friends, and friends of friends into subscribing and reached 4,000 hours. A rough rule of thumb is that you will make about $5 for every 1,000 views of your video. If you get 1 million views, you might make $5,000. And getting that amount of views is the problem.

Roughly 500 hours of video content is uploaded to YouTube every minute. That’s a lot of competition, and it isn’t easy to deliver engaging content that will keep your viewers watching and boost your bank account. So let’s meet some YouTubers who achieved these milestones and more. Here are 10 YouTubers that are richer than you’d think.

10 Markiplier

Based in Los Angeles, Mark Edward Fischbach goes by the name of Markiplier on YouTube. Since his debut in 2012, Markiplier’s channels have reached 20 billion views and attracted 34 million subscribers.

He is best known for doing playthroughs of indie and horror games. Plenty of other channels cover more or less the same ground, but Matkiplier works hard to make his videos stand out. He is funny and engaging—personality is an important part of success. He involves his viewers in the charities that he supports. His live streams feature him playing a game while encouraging viewers to donate to a good cause.

His net worth is estimated to be around $35 million. He demonstrates that you can make money on YouTube with great content, an engaging personality, and involving your viewers.

9 Lilly Singh

Canadian Lilly Singh has been posting on YouTube since 2010. By February 2022, people had viewed her posts over three billion times, and she earns well over $10 million a year. She has used her popularity to branch out into TV, books, and films. Her first video reached 10,000 views in a single day—an astonishing number for a YouTube newbie.

Lilly has attracted and kept a dedicated following due to her open, honest, and endearing personality. The key to success in this cutthroat business is the ability to form a relationship with the viewers; Lilly manages this effortlessly. She comes across as someone you might know and certainly someone you would like to be friends with.

8 Dude Perfect

Dude Perfect’s website states:

“Five dudes, a camera, and a friendly bet. That’s how Dude Perfect was born. … There’s more to Dude Perfect than just having fun. We’re about giving back, spreading joy, and glorifying Jesus Christ. And we’re stoked you’re part of the crew. So pound it, noggin, and let’s get big!”

And they are big, with nearly 60 million subscribers and a revenue of around $20 million. They’ve extended their YouTube presence into live tours and books. Plenty of other channels feature “epic antics,” but few are as popular as Dude Perfect. Part of the key to their success must be that they manage to convince their viewers that they form “part of the crew.”

7 Jake Paul

Jake Paul has 2.4 million subscribers to his YouTube channel. Nowhere near as many as the others on this list. Jake is Logan’s younger brother, who also has a YouTube channel with similar content.

Jake started his social media career on the now-defunct Vine platform. Successful there, he moved on to YouTube via a stint on the Disney Channel show “Bizaardvark.” When the budding actor was just 20, Disney fired him from the show for unacceptable behavior. Controversy has always been a feature of Jake’s career. His YouTube channel, full of practical jokes and hip-hop, is often controversial.

YouTube has also served as the launch pad for Jake’s boxing career. He has made considerable money by marrying the two—a reported $38 million from boxing in 2021.

Speaking of marrying… Jake and fellow YouTuber Tana Mongeau got married in Las Vegas in 2019, or rather, they nearly got married. As they didn’t have a license, the marriage was invalid. Still, fans could watch the ceremony for $50 on pay-per-view. Don’t miss an opportunity to make some extra cash!

6 PewDiePie

Most gamers will know PewDiePie’s YouTube channel. Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg, the man behind PewDiePie, registered his first YouTube account in 2006 and registered the successful PewDiePie channel in 2010. By 2016, he was so famous that Time magazine named him on their “World’s 100 Most Influential People” list. With 111 million subscribers and nearly 30 billion views, his channel is the most-subscribed individual channel on YouTube.

Let’s Play videos featuring PewDiePie’s humorous commentary formed the basis of his initial content, but Felix has expanded his content over the years. And subscriber numbers kept growing. He has branched out into video games of his own and a unisex clothing venture. His various activities have brought him an estimated net worth of around $56 million.

Considering the competition from other gaming channels on YouTube, this $56 million is truly astounding.

5 Nastya

Nastya was born in Russia in 2014. Her Like Nastya channel is the 5th most viewed channel on YouTube. Amazing in itself for one so young; it’s even more so when you consider that doctors diagnosed her with cerebral palsy and believed that she would never speak. But she can and does.

Carefully managed and guided by her parents and corporate management, Nastya has an annual income of around $18 million. Her content includes songs, stories, and adventures that her young audience can’t get enough of. Nastya has branched out into merchandise and sold her back catalog of videos for cash.

Her current success depends on successful marketing to children of her own age. It will be interesting to see if she can adapt her content as she grows up and retain her audience.

4 KSI

English YouTuber JJ Olatunji is worth an estimated $25 million. He started on YouTube in 2009 and has invested his earnings in property, a chain of restaurants, and a vodka brand. Better known as KSI, his channel focuses on music (he is a successful musician in his own right), gaming, and his boxing career.

His success comes from the fact that he is very talented and has an easy, relaxed style. Like many other YouTubers on this list, he supports a variety of charitable causes.

3 Emma Chamberlain

2019 was a good year for Emma Chamberlain. Time magazine listed her as one of the “25 Most Influential People On The Internet,” and Jonah Engel Bromwich of The New York Times wrote that she was “the funniest person on YouTube.” Some have said that she has redefined how videos are presented on YouTube.

Her net worth is estimated to be around $12 million, and some analysts suggest that she might earn up to $2 million a year from her videos alone. Add this to her income from other ventures—she has deals with luxury brands Louis Vuitton and Cartier—and she is obviously a very successful woman indeed.

Emma is a natural in front of the camera whose channel offers a variety of videos on different topics, with fashion being the underlying theme.

2 Unspeakable

Unspeakable is unstoppable on YouTube. His real name is Nathan Graham, and he illustrates an important point—to make money, you have to spend money. Unspeakable sold his back catalog to Spotter and used the proceeds to invest in his YouTube escapades. There’s no reason why you can’t make some cash from YouTube with just your cellphone, but to make big money, you have to invest.

Some people might find that his over-the-top personality would get a bit tiring after a while, but his 20 million subscribers would disagree.

Unspeakable’s net worth stands at between $20 and $30 million. He adds to his YouTube income through merchandising.

He started his career with a Minecraft Livestream in 2012 but is always looking for new ideas.

1 Mr. Beast

Jimmy Donaldson (Mr. Beast) started his first YouTube channel in 2012 when he was just 13. Our video neatly illustrates why he is so successful.

The idea behind the challenge is simple. But Mr.Beast keeps up the viewer’s interest by offering a high reward and breaking the flow with side challenges and prizes. He has a team of 100 people—a lot of them old friends—helping him with his videos.

His philosophy of investing large sums to ensure higher income pays off. His net worth is estimated to be $60 million, and he has over 100 million subscribers. The Insider website reported that a business had offered Mr. Beast $1 billion for his content, but he turned the offer down.

He keeps his videos manageable by making the challenges easy to explain and fun to watch. This takes a lot of preparation. Mr. Beast is a true YouTube phenomenon.