1. In 2011, Hefner earned a Guinness World Record for his obsessive scrapbooking. He had the largest collection in the world with nearly 3,000 scrapbooks.
2.
Hefner earned his degree in a mere two-and-a-half years,
instead of the usual four years that it takes in the US. The Playboy founder majored in psychology at
the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
3.
He took a loan of $1,000 to start Playboy magazine from
his mother, Grace.
.
5.
The famous 'Playboy Mansion' was
originally in Chicago, not in Los Angeles. The Chicago house featured an
underwater bar, which was accessible only by a fireman's pole.
6. The Playboy founder holds
the record as the longest-serving editor-in-chief in magazine history. He
approved each and every issue's layout even as late as until April.
8. In 1960, when racial segregation denied black Americans equal rights, Hefner started the first Playboy Club in Chicago and offered admission to people of all races.
9.
In the 1970s, the city
decided that the sign was in disrepair and needed a complete rebuilding, which
would cost about $250,000. Hefner stepped up and organized a gala
fundraiser at the Playboy Mansion, where the old sign letters were
auctioned off to raise money. And in 2010, he stepped up again when a
Chicago-based investment group said the property would be sold unless it could
raise $12.5 million. Hefner donated $900,000 of his own money
to effectively halt the sale.
10. The Playboy bunny is a huge
part of the brand that allowed the empire to expand into clubs, casinos and
more around the world. But Hefner also has a real life animal breed named after
him. Sylvilagus palustris hefneri, also known as the Lower Keys
rabbit, bears his name to recognize his financial support. The rabbit was named
in 1980 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Hefner's infamous Playboy
Mansion also had a zoo license, which allowed it to house many
exotic animals.
