Famous people with excellent memories

There is a myth about Napoleon Bonaparte's excellent memory. Perhaps it is partially true, who knows. Anyway the story goes that Napoleon memorized the rosters of his units. Every time he was to review the troops, he would greet the soldiers by name, causing them to feel a personal connection to their French emperor. (Kurland and Lupoff, 1999, p. 3-4)

Franklin Roosevelt, president from ____ to _____, is also said to have a good memory. In reception lines, Roosevelt would not only greet each person by name, he would ask a question of, or comment about, each person, showing his interest. Roosevelt used a terrific external memory device. His advisor, James Farley, kept a file of index cards on every such person Roosevelt might come across in such occasions. Before such occasions, he would brief Roosevelt beforehand, who would memorize a key question, brief story, or fact. (Kurland and Lupoff, 1999, p. 4)

Arturo Toscanini was the conductor of the ______ orchestra. This man had poor vision, but a terrific musical memory. Instead of following along with the score as he conducted, he memorized the entire score for each concert! He knew every note played by every instrument for 250 symphonies adn 100 operas! There is a legend that a man in Toscanini's orchestra who played second bassoon came to his conductor and said that he could not play the lowest F-sharp because of a broken key. But after a brief pause, Mistro Toscanini replied that it would not be a problem; that note would not be needed for the concert that night! (Yount, p. 70-71)