Dreams that Changed History: Famous Ideas and Insights from the Dream World

Historical Figures and Their Dream Revelations

Throughout history, the dreaming mind has been credited with inspiring ideas, insights, revelations, and guidance that have shaped the course of human events. Below are some well-known examples of dreams that influenced history:

Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar’s decision to cross the Rubicon is attributed to a dream in which he saw himself in bed with his mother, later interpreted as Mother Rome by seers. His assassination was also foretold in his wife Calpurnia’s dream, where she held him, bleeding and stabbed. Another Caesar, Caesar Augustus, is said to have roamed the streets as a beggar due to instructions received in a dream.

St. Francis of Assisi

St. Francis of Assisi founded the Franciscan Order after a dream in which Jesus Christ spoke from the cross, instructing him to "go set my house in order."

Dante Alighieri

Dante claimed that the entire story of The Divine Comedy was revealed to him in a dream on Good Friday in 1300. After Dante’s death in 1321, part of the manuscript was lost, but his son Jocojso found it after his father appeared to him in a dream, showing him where to look.

Genghis Khan

Genghis Khan reportedly received his battle plans and was told in a dream that he was the chosen one. His dreams are said to have played a crucial role in his military conquests.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

The famous poem ‘Kubla Khan’ by Samuel Taylor Coleridge was written after he awoke from an opium-induced dream. The imagery and verse in the poem were directly inspired by his dream.

Robert Louis Stevenson

Author Robert Louis Stevenson believed his best stories came from his dreams, including the theme for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He also reported using his dreams to revise plays and stories, having learned to control his nightmares during childhood.

Abraham Lincoln

Days before his assassination, Abraham Lincoln dreamt of great cries coming from the East Wing of the White House. When he investigated in the dream, he was told by soldiers that the president had been assassinated. Days later, his body was held in state in the East Wing for the public to pay their respects.

Friedrich August Kekulé von Stradonitz

Chemist Friedrich Kekulé discovered the ring structure of the benzene molecule after a dream where he saw a snake biting its own tail. This revelation led him to understand that the structure of benzene was a ring rather than a long string.

Guiseppe Tartini

In 1713, Italian violinist and composer Guiseppe Tartini dreamt that he handed his violin to the devil, who played a sonata of such beauty that Tartini tried to recreate it upon waking. The resulting composition, The Devil’s Trill, is considered one of his greatest works, though Tartini lamented that it was far below the music he heard in his dream.

Elias Howe

Elias Howe, the inventor of the sewing machine, came up with the breakthrough idea of passing the thread through the needle close to the point, not the end, after a nightmare in which cannibals waved spears with holes at the top. This concept made mechanical sewing possible.

Niels Bohr

Nobel Prize-winning physicist Niels Bohr developed the model of the atom after a dream where he saw himself sitting on the sun with all the planets revolving around him on tiny cords.

Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney dreamt of a haunting melody and, upon confirming that none of the Beatles had heard it before, turned it into the iconic song ‘Yesterday’.