Combination . . .

. . . of "Gee, I didn't know that" and names of phobias you probably never heard of. Herewith the list of ten well-known people and their phobias:

10. George Washington==>Taphephobia, fear of being buried alive

9. Woody Allen==>Panophobia, fear of almost everything. No kidding: heights, bugs, enclosed spaces, animals, elevators, bright colors(!)

8. Richard Nixon==>Nosocomephobia, fear of hospitals

7. Alfred Hitchcock==>Ovophobia, fear of eggs

6. Sigmund Freud==>fear of weapons and ferns

5. Oprah Winfrey==>fear of gum chewing

4. Natalie Wood==>Hydrophobia, fear of water

3. Billy Bob Thornton==>Chromophobia, fear of bright colors; fear of antique furniture; Coulrophobia, fear of clowns

2. Nikola Tesla*==>Germaphobia, fear of germs; fear of jewelry (especially pearl earrings)

1. Napoleon Bonaparte==>Ailurophobia, fear of cats

Gee . . . I didn't know that! What are you afraid of? Everybody's afraid of something. My mom was petrified of cock roaches. A little of that might have rubbed off on me.

*Telsa was a famous inventor best known for work on electromagnetism and electricity. (I didn't know who he was either.)

Related articles

• Does Clown Phobia Really Exist? (brighthub.com)
• Fear factor: Sorting the phobics from the phonies (independent.co.uk)
• So Much To Fear, So Little Time (andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com)