Born on the 11th of January, 1757 on the island of Nevis, located in the British West Indies, Alexander Hamilton was born. From a clerk, to a military genius, George Washington’s assistant, and finally, Secretary to the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton’s story from humble beginnings to wealth and power is that of an inspiration to us all.

Here are 10 more interesting tid bits for you all, so come have a look!

Fact 1: Alexander Hamilton, a bastard? Well, he was the illegitimate son, born of an illicit love affair between a Scottish immigrant father and a British West Indian mother, who was, to make things worse, married at the time.

Fact 2: Drama and steamy love affairs apparently do run in the family, because later on in his career serving the Treasury, he had met and fallen in love with a young woman from Philadelphia claiming that she was abandoned by her husband, left with nothing but a child to care for. Hamilton himself an orphan, was quick to help the cause. Little did he know that it was a carefully thought out plan by the woman and her husband in order to extort large sums of money from Hamilton, who readily gave it all. This later exploded into one of the most publicized sex scandals that ever rocked the office in history.

Fact 3: Alexander Hamilton, as well as his eldest son Philip, both died the same way: death by duel. It was common then, for men to settle disputes through a good, old fashioned duel. His son Philip was enraged when an unsavory story about his father was published, and the newspaper publicist at the time refused to retract it. Long story short, a duel commenced, and Philip died of the wounds the next afternoon. His father, Alexander Hamilton, died the same way three years later, but by the bullet of competitor Vice President Aaron Burr.

Fact 4: Hell bent on turning his life around, Alexander took on his first job at the young age of 11. His first job was working as a clerk in an accounting firm located in St. Croix. Being the bright and clever lad that he is, he quickly impressed his employers, so much so that his boss actually pooled enough money to be able to send him to America to be able to receive a proper education. Now that’s employee of the month!

Fact 5: Bored to death with anything that revolved him being glued to his desk, Hamilton was itching to catch some action. After a little prodding, he was able to taste action by the front line, and soon enough he found himself the captain of a company of artillery. Just 12 months after that, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel within the Continental Army, as well as aide-de-camp to commanding general George Washington.

Fact 6: Alexander Hamilton became the first person to be elected as Secretary of the Treasury, by none other than George Washington, who was also quite fond of Hamilton and his newfound love and talent for military warfare and strategy.

Fact 7: His luck didn’t just touch on wealth and power, because when it came to love Alexander Hamilton was considered a lucky man. He took Elizabeth Schuyler, the daughter of General Philip Schuyler, as his wife. The Schulyers were one of the most prominent and wealthiest families in New York during that time, and so Hamilton had picked right.

Fact 8: Alexander Hamilton was responsible for the penning of 51 of the state’s Federalist papers from the year 1787 until late 1788.

Fact 9: Alexander Hamilton is the father of New York City, doing more than his fair share of founding father duties, he fought for the right and the promotion of its government until the very end. It took roughly 200 years for a monument of Hamilton to be built in the heart of the city, in honor of his life’s work.

Fact 10: He attended university at King’s College, know known as Columbia College.