"I have ever confined myself to facts." - Attributed to Baron Munchausen
There really was a Baron Munchausen. His full name was Karl Friedrich Hieronymous von Munchausen, and he lived from 1720 to 1797 and fought for the Russians against the Turks. He was, it is said, in the habit of embellishing his war stories, and in 1785 a jewel thief from Hanover named Rudolf Erich Raspe published a book in England which claimed to be based on the baron's life and times.
The real von Munchausen apparently did not complain about this book that made free with his reputation, even though it included such tall stories as the time the baron tethered his horse to a "small twig" in a snowstorm, and discovered when the snow melted that the twig was actually a church steeple.
Raspe's book was a major international success, and versions of the fictional Baron have appeared on stage, screen, radio, and television. In addition, three medical conditions (Munchausen syndrome, Munchausen syndrome by proxy, and Munchausen by Internet) and a logical problem (the Münchhausen Trilemma) are named after the character.
