5 Surprising Facts That Will Make You Love Beyoncé Even More

Bey woke up like this.

As Beyoncé turns 33 on Thursday, Sept. 4, the pop singer, actress, mother and philanthropist is certainly now the undisputed queen of all. When Beyoncé was just a young kid, she used to charge houseguests $5 to watch her perform. Despite suffering an initial stage shyness, which led to the creation of her Sasha Fierce character, Beyoncé eventually confirmed what we all suspected, saying, "I felt at home on that stage, more so than anywhere else."

From defying initial record-label expectations that her first album would flop, an album that had four hit singles including "Crazy In Love," to now being so big that even a horse fly with a golden rear has been named after her, certainly nobody could tell Beyoncé these days that she doesn't run the world.

1. Pizza is Beyoncé's "favorite indulgence."

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

P-I-Z-Z-Bey! Sundays are Beyoncé's "treat myself" day, and she revealed to ABC News in 2013 that this almost always involves pizza. Besides it being her self-described "favorite indulgence," Beyoncé also was seen wearing a whole pizza-themed outfit in December 2013.

Beyoncé and Jay Z went on a temporary vegan diet at the end of 2013, which probably made their Sunday Brooklyn pizza dates trickier. One Brooklyn pizzeria even named a special slice after her, calling it the "Beefyonce."

2. Beyoncé is a goddess of charity work.

Just about every few months there's a new story of Beyoncé giving back, whether it's her most recent donation of $7 million to the homeless of Houston, to starting global campaigns such as her #BeyGOOD initiative, to extensively fighting hunger. Beyoncé has explained:

I was 13 and my sister Solange was 8 when we started donating and serving meals to the homeless after church. There were people from all walks of life, even children, who needed a meal. We learned that we are all three paychecks away from poverty. It was a lesson in humility for all of us.

Image: WikiCommons

3. Sing and run at the same time? Beyoncé can apparently do that for more than a mile.

Many of us may have a hard time just completing a mile, but Beyoncé has no problem singing while she runs the world. Talking with The Times of India, Beyoncé revealed her training regimen from the early days, stating, "My father, who was also my manager, made me run a mile while singing so I would be able to perform on stage without becoming exhausted." Extremely impressive, but maybey a bit intense?

LaTavia Roberson, of the original Destiny's Child lineup, also spoke of these practices, telling The Mirror that Beyoncé's father had the whole band go through this training. "He would make us wake up early in the -morning and take us to Herman Park," Roberson said. "There was a three-and-a-half mile track and we would sing while we jogged around it."

What motivates her to keep running? Apparently the Academy Awards. After being asked by CBS News whether it's true that she runs on a "treadmill with a big picture of an Academy Award in front of it," Beyoncé responded, "I do. But, it's not right in front of the treadmill. It's over in the corner somewhere. Just so it's in the back of my mind."

4. Beyoncé got the word "bootylicious" into the Oxford English Dictionary.

My dictionary too bootylicious for ya, babe. "Bootylicious" was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2004. The online edition of the dictionary currently defines the word as, "(Of a woman) sexually attractive."

HuffPost reached out to Christian Purdy, director of publicity for the OED, who clarified that "English is elastic and ever-changing. We update our dictionaries often to reflect current usage."

5. Queen Bey may be the best Connect Four player of all time and once beat Kanye West nine games in a row.

Kanye West used to play Connect Four all the time, facing everyone from members of his GOOD Music label to a fedora-wearing Jonah Hill, but apparently Beyoncé was the connector to beat. Kanye wrote on his sadly now defunct blog:

every now and then people would speak of this legendary connect 4 champion……….. BEYONCE!!! I had 2 play her!…so last night at Jay’s new 40/40 club in Las Vegas (which is sidebar, crazy big w/ 24krt gold flooring, Black Jack tables, $500 slot machines,the biggest projection screen in the universe and the best turkey burgers I’ve ever had in my life) she beat me 9 times in a row! (and I didn’t even spaz lol)

Yeezus did end up beating the Queen once, but that was probably only after Kanye said in a robotic voice, "How could you Bey so heartless?"

It actually makes sense that Beyoncé is amazing at Connect Four, as "four" is her special number. She further elaborated to Billboard, "We all have special numbers in our lives, and 4 is that for me. It's the day I was born. My mother's birthday, and a lot of my friends' birthdays, are on the fourth; April 4 is my wedding date." Blue Ivy also has the Roman numeral IV in the spelling. Jay Z was born on Dec. 4, 1969. There were originally four members of Destiny's Child. And Beyoncé and Jay Z even got matching "IV" wedding tattoos.

Of course, Beyoncé is actually the Champion of Everything.

All images provided by Getty unless otherwise noted.

September 1998 with her Destiny's Child bandmates

In March 1999, Destiny's Child's color-coordination was going strong

September 1999 at the 5th Annual Soul Train "Lady of Soul" Awards

Bey was so on-trend in 2000: waistband-less jeans and a bandana top

Hanging with Sisqo at the MTV Movie Awards in June, 2000

September 2000 at the 6th Annual Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards

Sparkly and skimpy at the Source Hip Hop Music Awards in August, 2000

Beyonce back in the Destiny's Child Days at the 2002 Grammys

B rocked a shimmery bustier dress to the Billboard Awards back in 2003

Loving her lingerie a little too much at the 2003 Essence Awards

Beyonce the barbarian at the 2003 MTV Europe Music Awards

A strange print for a night on the red carpet back in 2003

Beyonce looking like a hot, gold mess at the 2004 Grammys

Pretty in pink at the 2004 NRJ Music Awards

Beyonce's the ultimate glamour girl, especially in this metallic romper from 2004

Not the right silhouette for this famously curvy star, 2005

Beyonce does vixen velvet in this sultry black gown worn to the 2005 Oscars

Matching with her Destiny's Child mates at the 2005 BET Awards

Not so red carpet ready in this yellow frock from 2005

Beyonce donned this intricate gown to the 2006 MTV VMAs

A sexy, sophisticated white gown worn to the 2007 Academy Awards

Effortlessly gorgeous at the U.K. premiere of "Dreamgirls" in 2007

B wore this appropriately revealing ensemble to the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue event back in 2007

Beyonce's a stunner in this black, embellished dress from 2008

And at the 2008 Grammy after party thrown by Sony/BMG

Beyonce's ice blue gown from the 2008 Grammys

At the Kennedy Center Honors, 2008

Dazzling in diamonds, 2009

Beyonce looked fierce and fabulous at the 2009 BET Awards

B donned this nude-colored gown to the 2010 Grammys

Bold and beautiful at a benefit last year

At a Lorraine Schwartz event in 2010

A vision in Pucci at The Met Gala this past May

Beyonce performing at the 2011 Glastonbury Music Festival

On GMA this past July

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.