Passengers on the RMS St. Helena aren’t the first ones to feel stuck on the island. Napoleon did too. And he really was stuck. His enemies wanted him that way—for good.

Napoleon lived in the 1800s. He was great at leading soldiers in battle and winning wars. He was so good that he took over many other parts of Europe, building a huge French empire. But Emperor Bonaparte’s victory didn’t last forever. Not everyone in his huge kingdom felt warm and fuzzy toward him. He had basically walked into their countries, fought them, beat them, and made a grand announcement: “Your country now belongs to France!” Would you appreciate that?

People from those countries decided to fight back. Napoleon was defeated. It wasn’t enough to remove Napoleon from power. To keep him from ruling, his foes sent him to an island—but not the one you’re thinking of. They banished him to Elba, an island in the Mediterranean Sea. Napoleon escaped. He returned and ruled in France again!

But again, Napoleon’s power didn’t last. He ruled for what is called The Hundred Days. (It was actually 111 days.) In 1815, he was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo. His enemies didn’t want to make the same mistake they had made with Elba. So they sent him to . . . drumroll . . . the tiny island of St. Helena!

On St. Helena, Napoleon lived in a lonely, rat-infested house called Longwood. You can still visit an exact replica of the room where he died in 1821. Now that would be something to see—probably even worth the six-hour plane ride from South Africa.