Georg Friedrich Händel was born in Halle, Germany. But since he spent most of his professional life in England, he’s better known as George Frederick Handel.

Even though Handel was very interested in music, his father (who was a barber and surgeon) was not. There’s a story that Handel smuggled a clavichord — a VERY quiet instrument — into the house so that he could practice in secret. Handel’s father insisted that his son become a lawyer, until the day that Handel sat down at the keyboard and dazzled a duke. The duke convinced Handel’s father to let his son study music.