"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most of all lessons of history." - Aldous Huxley.

"Hey Donnie, whatcha watchin'?"

Mikey had just walked in on his brother Donnie watching a documentary of sorts. Mikey had missed the beginning and had no idea what kind of documentary it was.

Donnie barely glanced at his brother and carried on watching the man on TV drone on and on. "Hey Mikey, I'm just watching a documentary on Richard III of England. Did you know that he had a hump back and is said to have murdered his nephews in the Tower of London?"

Mikey shook his head.

"Well, Richard III drowned his brother, Edward IV, in a barrel of wine and killed his nephews in the Tower of London and buried them under the stairs and..."

Laughter prevented Donnie from continuing. "Dude, I know about Richard III, and what you've said isn't true." Mikey flipped over the couch and sat down next to Donnie. "First of all, there's not proof that Richard III had his brother drowned in wine or murdered his nephews. It's true that he put them in the Tower but he didn't bury them under the stairs."

Donnie turned off the TV. "But Shakespeare wrote a play on Richard III and he stated all those things. And he killed his wife and father-in-law..."

"Nope." Mikey giggled. "He didn't kill his wife or father-in-law." Donnie tried to speak again but Mikey interrupted. "And no, he didn't have a hump back."

"Then...why did Shakespeare wrote about that if it isn't true? Come to think of it, how do you know so much?"

"Well," Mikey began. "When Edward IV died, his sons were just kids so Richard became Lord Protector, which basically meant that he was looking after the country for the kids. However, Edward IV's marriage to his wife was declared invalid, so he wasn't actually married and his sons couldn't inherit the crown. Richard was declared King and put the boys in the Tower, probably for safe-keeping."

Donnie had fallen silent. How did Mikey know all this? He didn't even know what happened! "But...but what happened to the princes?"

Mikey's grin faltered slightly and he put on a thinking face."Don't know. They weren't seen again."

"So...Richard III might have murdered them."

"No. Some one else might have murdered them for Richard without his knowing, but Richard III didn't murder his nephews. You see, Shakys, or whatever his name was, lived in Tudor times and Henry VII had beaten Richard III in the War of the Roses. Shaky was probably trying to get on Henry's granddaughter, Elizabeth I's good side when he wrote about Richard III. It's like they say, history is written by the winners." A ding went off in the kitchen. "Ooh, my pizza's ready, see you, Donnie!"

Mikey jumped off the couch and ran towards the kitchen screaming at Raph, "Hey, that pizza's mine!"

Donnie was frozen to his spot. He'd never know that Mikey has that smart. Sure, Mikey was good at pulling pranks and drawing, but history? Donnie glanced at the kitchen where the sound of Leo's voice yelling at Raph and Mikey to stop fighting was hurting his ear drums. He might just go to his lab and get some projects done while no one's bothering him. But the conversation he's had with Mikey was still fresh in his mind.

Donnie shook his head and closed the lab door behind him. "I guess there's more to Mikey than I thought." He muttered.

"History is a gallery of pictures in which there are few originals and many copies." - Alexis de Tocqueville