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Humpty dumpty sat on a wall
Humpty dumpty had a great fall
All the King's horses
And all the King's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again

I find it peculiar that whenever we see Humpty Dumpty in pictures, he's a giant egg. Nowhere in the rhyme does it say that Humpty's an egg. he could very well be a robot that can't be put together again (of course he couldn't be a robot since they didn't exist then, but you get the idea).

I did some research, (yeah, yeah, who in their right mind looks up this stuff, right?) and came across something from the always reliable Wikipedia:

"There are various theories of the origin of Humpty Dumpty.

According to an insert taken from the East Anglia Tourist Board in England, Humpty Dumpty was a powerful cannon during the English Civil War. It was mounted on top of the St Mary's at the Wall Church in Colchester defending the city against siege in the summer of 1648. Although Colchester was a Parliamentarian stronghold, it had been captured by the Royalists; they held it for 11 weeks. The church tower was hit by the enemy and the top of the tower was blown off, sending "Humpty" tumbling to the ground. Naturally the King's men (the "men" would have been infantry, and "horses" the cavalry troops) tried to mend "him" but in vain. Visitors to Colchester can see the reconstructed Church tower as they reach the top of Balkerne Hill on the left hand side of the road.

In another theory, Humpty Dumpty referred to King Richard III of England, the hunchbacked monarch, whose horse was named "Wall". During the battle of Bosworth Field, he fell off of his steed and was said to have been "hacked into pieces". (However, although Shakespeare's play depicts Richard as a hunchback, other historical evidence suggests that he was not.)

Humpty Dumpty may also refer to a Roman war machine called a Testudo used to cross moats and climb over castle walls. Humpty Dumpty refers to the turtle-like look of the machine and the noise of the wheels.

Another theory has Humpty Dumpty as medieval slang for a short, clumsy person. Martin Gardner in The Annotated Mother Goose suggests this was exploited in a riddle: after the poem, the reciter asks how could such a thing happen, the answer being that Humpty Dumpty was an egg (which fact is never mentioned in the poem). Since the answer is now so well known, the question is no longer asked. In L. Frank Baum's Mother Goose in Prose, the riddle is devised by the King's daughter (having witnessed Humpty's death)."

Imagine that. Four different origins for Humpty Dumpty. See? You learn something new everyday.

Incidentally, the Wikipedia entry also wondered why Humpty Dumpty is depicted as an egg. Guess I'm not alone when it comes to thinking about stuff like that.