The 20 Most Beautiful Love Stories in History

Most of Old Hollywood’s most famous love stories ended in disaster. That wasn’t the case for Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. Despite a significant age difference and the fact that Bogart was already married, they hit it off immediately and stayed together until the end of Bogart’s life.

There’s a silver lining to romantic relationships: if a couple breaks up, it often leads to great music. That wasn’t the case for June Carter and Johnny Cash. Carter helped Cash overcome his addiction, and the two stayed together for the rest of their lives, passing away within four months of each other.

Sometimes politics can be a defining factor in relationships, but not for Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott. After her husband’s assassination, Coretta played a vital role in carrying on his mission and continuing the quest for social justice. The Kings are not the only couple on this list to have dedicated their lives to the civil rights movement.

In a situation that was not uncommon among royal couples, Katherine Swynford and John of Ghent had something in common: John’s wife. When the infamous couple met, Katherine was unhappy in her marriage and was serving as a lady-in-waiting to John’s wife. Decades later, John legitimized Katherine and her children as members of his family. 

Few people in history have fallen as deeply in love as Napoleon did with Josephine. In fact, it was Napoleon who gave her the name by which she is known today, derived from her middle name. Although the imperial couple eventually divorced, it was due to fertility issues rather than a loss of love.

Another imperial couple, Justinian and Theodora of Byzantium, was proof that opposites attract. Justinian was the heir to the throne, while Theodora was an actress from a modest background. Since the law did not allow actresses to marry above their station, Justinian changed the law so that he could marry Theodora.

If you’ve ever taken a walk in Central Park, you’ve probably seen the statue of the Angel of the Waters. However, you probably don’t know that the artist, Emma Stebbins, modeled the angel after her partner, Charlotte Cushman. The couple was together for 19 years, and Stebbins devoted the rest of her life to writing Cushman’s biography.

Pedro of Portugal was unhappy in his marriage when he met the love of his life, Inês de Castro, one of his wife’s ladies-in-waiting. Unfortunately, the king rejected this illicit affair and ordered Inês’s assassination. After taking revenge on his father, Pedro elevated his deceased beloved to the rank of queen.

Heloise and Abelard, who lived nearly 1,000 years ago, are one of the most famous couples in history—and for good reason. An educated woman, Heloise received private lessons from Abelard, and their academic relationship quickly turned romantic. Unfortunately, the couple was forcibly separated and went on to live as a nun and a monk, respectively.

It is not uncommon for people to put their lovers on a pedestal, but Emperor Hadrian did so literally. After his lover, Antinous, drowned, Hadrian elevated him to the status of a deity and established a cult in his honor. Hadrian also founded a city in honor of his beloved, called Antinoopolis.

With thousands of letters exchanged, the love between John and Abigail Adams is one of the best-documented in American history. The two were not only lovers but also intellectual equals. At a time when marriage was often something one endured rather than enjoyed, John and Abigail Adams proved that it was possible to have both love and marriage.

If there is one lesson to be learned from this list, it is that a relationship must be a partnership in every sense of the word. Pierre and Marie Curie not only shared their lives, but also the Nobel Prize in Physics. Together, they isolated radium and polonium, thereby ushering in a new era for science.

The Taj Mahal is more than just a wonder of the world; it is also a magnificent monument dedicated to eternal love. After the death of his wife, Mumtaz Mahal, when he was still a child, the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan devoted the rest of his life to honoring her memory. Today, Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal are buried side by side.

Scandal, a miscarriage, and social ostracism followed Percy and Mary Shelley after they were rejected by society. Undeterred, the literary couple remained devoted to one another and to their art. Tragically, Percy drowned at the age of 29; Mary kept his mummified heart wrapped in one of her manuscripts until the end of her life.

Even though Bonnie and Clyde weren’t exactly paragons of virtue, there’s no denying that they’re among the most iconic couples in the United States. They died exactly as they’d wanted to: side by side, in a blaze of glory and bullets. Being on the run has never seemed so romantic.

Not all the couples on this list lived happily ever after, as was unfortunately the case with Oscar Wilde and Alfred Douglas. The relationship between the two men was tumultuous and scandalous. Eventually, Douglas’s father revealed his son’s relationship, which led to Wilde’s conviction, imprisonment, and death.

The poets Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning had to marry in secret because Barrett’s father had vowed to disown any of his children who got married. Although Barrett never saw her father again, she remained with Browning until his death. A bronze cast of the couple’s clasped hands is on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Another love story that ended in tragedy, but one that is nonetheless important to remember. Harry and Harriette Moore founded an NAACP chapter and waged a tireless campaign for civil rights. Tragically, a bomb exploded beneath the couple’s home on their 25th wedding anniversary, on Christmas Day 1951.

In 1920s Paris, Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas’s salon was a gathering place for aspiring writers and artists. The two women were a couple for 40 years, a relationship that ended only with Stein’s death. Today, Stein’s The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas remains her best-known work.

When asked how he had remained faithful to his wife, Paul Newman replied, “I have a steak at home—why would I go out for a hamburger?” Newman and Joanne Woodward were together for 50 years, during which time they won Oscars and founded charitable organizations. Woodward said that laughter was the most important thing in their marriage.