Historical Friendships That Went Sour And Changed The Course Of Humanity

That friendship was with a Roman statesman named Marcus Junius Brutus, often mononymously referred to today as Brutus. Caesar was a longtime protector of Brutus, and initially the latter felt a strong loyalty to his friend and leader.

Brutus and co-conspirator Gaius Cassius Longinus put their plan into action, and along with the co-conspirators, Brutus plunged a dagger into his former friend on the Senate floor. Historical debate rages over the deposed dictator’s final words, but the consequences were the martyrdom of Caesar and a cycle of civil wars that led to the downfall of the Roman Republic, along with the eventual rise to power of his grandnephew Gaius Octavius — a.k.a. Augustus Caesar — as the new ruler of the Roman Empire.

The fellow Republicans were friends for many years, and Taft was viewed by many as Roosevelt’s protégé. And there was a time when the senior politician had wanted Taft as his successor. But then came the events of 1912: when the Republican National Committee convened in Chicago to pick its Presidential candidate, everything went very sour.

Roosevelt responded by suggesting Taft represented “the forces of reaction and of political crookedness.” Ultimately, Taft won the nomination, but Roosevelt ran as a third-party candidate to scupper his and the Republican Party’s election chances.

Their period of friendship began when the escapologist sent the author his book, after which Houdini and Doyle exchanged many letters before meeting in person sometime around 1920. Doyle had Houdini perform a trick at a dinner party, and he truly believed his new pal had magic powers.

Houdini — of Jewish heritage — did not take kindly to this, and ended his friendship with Doyle abruptly. Doyle didn’t take it lying down, and the pair argued publicly via The New York Times letters pages. Houdini wrote disparagingly, “There is nothing that Sir Arthur will believe that surprises me.” Ouch!

After Russia and France had been battling on opposite sides in the war of the Fourth Coalition, the two met in 1807 on a floating barge and signed the Treaty of Tilsit, during which they rather surprisingly seemed to hit it off. For instance, Napoleon wrote to his wife Josephine stating that Alexander was “especially handsome, like a hero with all the graces of an amiable Parisian.”

Napoleon was evidently irked by this, and launched a full-scale invasion of Russia a couple of years later. That invasion would be a disaster, and it marked the beginning of the end for Napoleon. The Emperor of France did write to Alexander during the invasion pushing for a reconciliation, but it never came.

The American Edison — who invented the light bulb, phonograph, and the moving picture — and the Serbia-born Tesla were friends too in the early days. Tesla actually worked at the Edison Machine Works in 1884 before a major rift developed between the two that couldn’t be reconciled.

Tesla quit working for Edison, and sold numerous patents to Westinghouse. The so-called “War of the Currents” was well underway. Tesla was team A.C. and Edison was team D.C.; both criticized the other publicly and claimed they were sure that their favored electrical system would power the world. Tesla and A.C. were ultimately victorious, and the two never reconciled.

In those early years, Gates and Jobs collaborated on software for the Apple II PC and the succeeding Apple Macintosh. Gates reportedly once observed that more of his staff were working on Apple Mac projects than their own leader Jobs had.

Microsoft and Apple went up against each other for years afterwards, each man desperately trying to get the upper hand. Some argue that their intense competition led to enhanced rates of innovation. Still, the pair — who traded barbs in public for many years — made up before Jobs’ 2011 death; Jobs treasured a letter that Gates had sent him, according to his widow Laurene.

Yes, the Dassler brothers started out like most brothers: while they mostly got along, somehow bickering was never far away. Then, in the 1930s, they co-founded a small-scale shoe company in their mother’s basement.

But this massive upturn in fortune— one that extended well beyond Germany’s borders — only served to create a rupture in the brothers’ relationship: one that would change history. After their and their wives' fallout in 1948 the pair went on to create rival sportswear companies across the city from each other. Rudi formed Puma, whilst Adi Dassler founded — you’ve guessed it — Adidas.

The pair reportedly enjoyed a warm relationship in the early 20th century. They first met in Paris back in 1906 and bonded over their love of artist Paul Cezanne, a man they both regarded as the “master.” Cezanne had a considerable influence on both men.

You see, the older Matisse was a more traditional artist and man, who focused on painting colorful still life works in homage to Cezanne. Picasso, though, completely turned Cezanne’s approach on its head; his new abstract style of art featuring colorless shapes and planes became known as cubism. The uptight and traditionalist Matisse hated it, and he let that be known publicly. Picasso stuck to his guns and changed art forever; he never made up with his elder colleague.

Lennon and McCartney had met in 1957 at a church party in Liverpool and soon became inseparable. They bonded firstly over a love of rock n’ roll and then a mutual experience of loss: both their mothers died young while their sons were still teenagers. In the early days of The Beatles, Lennon famously remarked that they wrote songs “eyeball to eyeball.”

Lennon’s relationship with Japanese artist Yoko Ono is often cited as the main reason for their fallout and the end of The Beatles, but in truth reasons for the split encompassed lots of things, including creative differences, contract disputes, and recreational drug use. After the band ended, the pair embarked on solo careers, and traded barbs on songs such as McCartney’s “Too Many People” and Lennon’s “How Do You Sleep?” Thankfully, they made up a few years before Lennon was tragically shot and killed by a crazed fan in December 1980.

As a committed communist, Kahlo was naturally drawn to the much-older Trotsky, who was seen as an important figure on the left. They would meet for the first time in 1937 when Trotsky was 57 and Kahlo was 29. Trotsky had been expelled from the Soviet Union’s leadership by then; he was eventually given political asylum in Mexico. The pair soon consummated a warm relationship that for several months turned romantic.

Trotsky attempted to reconcile with Kahlo with a letter, but he was ignored. Then in 1940, after Trotsky had been murdered with an ice pick, Kahlo was put in jail, suspected of being an accomplice. She was eventually released, but the shadow of suspicion illustrated just how much their relationship had declined. All the same, ultimately Trotsky and his politics had wielded a considerable influence on Kahlo and the direction that her art took.

In the early years, it all started off well. Ali and Frazier were pals, and talked up a future mega-fight. Then, when Ali lost his boxing license due to his anti-Vietnam War stance, Frazier made a point of helping him regain it.

Frazier — whose family suffered abuse and bullying after Ali’s taunts — was not surprisingly incensed; he drew on that anger to win the much-hyped first bout. Famously, Ali recovered to win the last two of the eventual trilogy. Sadly, despite various thaws, the pair could not fully make up before Frazier’s death in 2011.

The Cuban and Argentine revolutionaries had first met in 1954 in Mexico, and they quickly realized they had a great deal in common when it came to political views and aims. Castro and Guevara became close pals and started a lengthy armed struggle against the hated Batista regime, a fight in which Guevara’s guerilla warfare skills became evident.

In 1965 this quest took Guevara to Bolivia, but the move seemingly led to a rift between the once-close allies. In fact, in 1967 when the Bolivian army and the CIA finally caught up with him and his revolutionaries, the Argentine repeatedly shouted “Fidel betrayed me” before his execution. Although it would almost certainly have been fruitless, Castro didn’t even bother to try and intervene to save Guevara; their communication had reportedly stopped months before he was executed.

Yes, the elder Hurston sort of took Hughes under her wing, despite their differences in personality and upbringing, and championed his work. Southerner Hurston was a unpretentious anthropologist, whilst Hughes was an cultured poet, but they were united in their mission of chronicling the Black experience accurately on the page.

Worse still, Hurston did so whilst Hughes was recovering from sickness at his mom’s house. Both writers subsequently had versions of it copyrighted and took legal action. But was Hurston actually motivated by romantic feelings? Several scholars have suggested she may have had an unrequited love for him, not helped by his closeness to typist Louise Thompson. Whatever the truth, their friendship sadly never recovered from this saga.

To begin with, Seneca and Nero got on well. Seneca tutored Nero and became something of a mentor to the teenage heir to the throne. The philosopher helped Nero build the confidence to give public addresses, in particular the eulogy to his late father that saw him become Emperor. Upon that ascension to the throne, Seneca became a trusted advisor.

Seneca then tried to retire from public life and focused on philosophy. But in 65 A.D., when there was an assassination attempt on Nero, the Emperor decided to accuse Seneca of treason. As a result, Nero demanded his former confidant and tutor killed himself, and Seneca — presumably reluctantly — duly obliged.

Jefferson and Adams had considerable differences on a personal and political level, but in the early years they became close pals all the same. And when the statesmen traveled to Europe in the 1780s to represent the U.S. diplomatically, that kinship only grew.

Jefferson and Adams then became presidential rivals in 1796 . Adams came out on top, while Jefferson adopted a role as an undermining Vice President. Things came to a head in 1800 during another battle for the presidency that Jefferson won after ordering a smear campaign against his former friend. They didn’t speak much or at all until they exchanged letters in 1809. Amazingly and perhaps fittingly, both men died on the same day: July 4, 1876, 50 years to the day after the Declaration of Independence had been signed.

Henry II and Becket immediately hit it off, and traveled around England together in their roles, whilst enjoying hunting and gaming in their downtime. Becket was living the high life in the royal court, using his now-considerable wealth to decorate his residences and throw lavish parties. In 1162 Becket became Archbishop of Canterbury himself, having been nominated by the King.

Big mistake: Becket was duly forced to escape England by a fuming Henry II, and he resided in France for a time. The pair seemingly reconciled in 1170 and Becket returned to England as Archbishop to much fanfare. But after Henry II appointed his son as co-King, Becket’s opposition to this abuse of power led to the monarch ordering his murder in Canterbury Cathedral by loyal knights on December 29, 1170.

Keckley was a former slave who had managed to buy her freedom in 1855 and set up a successful clothing business in Washington D.C. A few years later in 1861 Keckley then became the personal dressmaker of Mrs. Lincoln, and a regular at the White House.

But the relationship was ruined when Keckley decided to cash in and write a tell-all book about her time with the Lincolns in the White House in 1868. Keckley went from being Mrs. Lincoln’s ‘best living friend” to a person to whom she would never speak again, despite the former’s efforts to rebuild their friendship.

Although the historical record is comparatively thin given the era, Alexander and Cleitus were believed to have been quite close friends, and then of course military allies too, after Alexander succeeded his father Phillip II in 336 B.C. at the age of just 20.

Alexander reportedly drove a spear through his one-time friend and military commander in a drunken rage, which had been provoked by Cleitus’s support for the old guard and Alecxander’s father Phillip II. The self-declared Divine King is said to have bitterly regretted his angry moment soon after, even contemplating killing himself.

The two rappers were initially friendly after meeting on the set of Poetic Justice in 1993. Biggie enthused to Vibe, “We just clicked off the top and were cool ever since.” But the following year their warm relationship would turn into a deadly rivalry, one that changed hip-hop history forever.

Tupac signing with Death Row Records led to a hyped-up East Coast/West Coast rap war, which ultimately cost both men their lives. Pac released “Hit’ Em Up,” which addressed the shooting and his apparent affair with Biggie’s missus Faith Evans. Then Tupac was fatally gunned down in 1996; many suspected Biggie’s involvement again. It led to a likely retaliatory murder of the Notorious B.I.G. in March 1997 and the altering of hip-hop history forever.

Henry subsequently brought More into his inner circle as a courtier, and despite the latter’s catholicism the two became friends. More served under the King in several cabinets, and he was even knighted by him.

Their split occurred in 1527 when the King wished to dispose of his wife, who had failed to bear him a male heir. Eight years later, Henry had More tried in a kangaroo court on the charge of treason; the King’s former ally was duly found guilty and beheaded. The devout More accepted his fate with impressive grace: before his execution he thanked the King for ridding him of “the miseries of this wretched world.”