In honor of his birthday, Weekly World News presents 15 strange facts about Dr. Seuss that you may have never heard before!

1. Dr. Seuss’ real name was Theodor Seuss Geisel

2. After being caught at a drinking party during the Prohibition era, Theodor was forced to continue writing for Dartmouth’s paper under a pseudonym. Thus, Dr. Seuss was born

3. Although he is famous for his children books, he never had any children himself

4. During World War II, Seuss wrote short propaganda films for the United States War Department such as “Your Job in Germany”, to be shown to soldiers about to go overseas into foreign cultures

5. He also drew political cartoons during the War for a left-wing newspaper, including one that depicted all Japanese-Americans as latent traitors

6. After the war ended, Seuss had a change of heart and wrote “Horton Hears a Who” as an allegory for the American post-war occupation of Japan

7. Seuss had a closet next to his studio filled with hats sent to him from children around the world

8. “Green Eggs and Ham” was written on a dare, after a publisher bet him $50 he couldn’t write a book using only 50 different words

9. Seuss was descended from a long line of German brewmasters on his father’s side

10. Seuss Landing, an area of Universal Studios theme park made especially for small children, does not feature a single straight line anywhere in keeping with Seuss’ vision

11. “Cat in the Hat” was written to promote literacy, after a 1954 report on illiteracy concluded that children found books to be boring

12. Before President Richard Nixon resigned, Seuss rewrote one of his books to declare, “Richard M. Nixon, Will You Please Go Now!” and released it to major newspapers

13. After the failure of the live-action film adaptation of “Cat in the Hat” and it’s risqué content, Seuss’ widow has banned any future live-action films being made, declaring them too difficult to monitor

14. The “Butter Battle Book” is an anti-war story, and specifically challenged Reagan’s decision to put defense ahead of social welfare programs during the Cold War

15. “Horton Hears a Who” is often referenced by pro-life groups for recurring phrase “a person’s a person, no matter how small”. His widow discouraged this, and Seuss himself threatened to sue a group for using his words on their stationery