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Everyone has that someone. The person they turn to when they need a bit of advice, a bit of a giggle, or even a shoulder to cry on.

Perhaps having a good pal and confidante is even more vital when you’re involved in matters that could make a massive impact on the world. That could explain why well-known people often have equally well-known friends - they know of the pressures of being in the public eye and perhaps can offer some support and comfort.

It’s certainly led to some intriguing pair-ups on the friendship front over the years, with people from very different fields providing the perfect company to each other. People like these.

Nikola Tesla and Mark Twain

Stories by the acclaimed Tom Sawyer author Mark Twain entertained the future electrical engineering pioneer Nikola Tesla when he was a sick child.

Twain was absolutely fascinated with technology, so when the two men met in the late 1800s, their skills and interests were the perfect combination for a close friendship. Twain was happy to get involved with some of Tesla’s experiments and appeared in photographs taken in his New York laboratory.

Twain was so excited about Tesla's work, he was willing to promote it abroad. This was a time when his friend's work with the alternating current (AC) system of supplying electricity was in competition with his rival Thomas Edison's direct current (DC) system and both were keen to see their inventions in wider use.

In an 1898 letter, Twain explained how he could make himself useful: "Have you Austrian and English patents on that destructive terror which you have been inventing? -and if so, won't you set a price upon them and concession me to sell them? I know cabinet ministers of both countries."

It is not clear what 'destructive terror' Twain was referring to, but Tesla's inventions at that time included the Tesla coil - which aimed to supply electricity wirelessly. He also worked with phosphorescent lighting, developed an AC motor and did some work with X-rays, among his other achievements. Sadly, there is no record of Tesla's reply.

Helen Keller and Alexander Graham Bell

Helen Keller became deaf and blind through illness at the age of just 18 months. She went on to become an an activist, author - and even an Academy Award winner.

Although Alexander Graham Bell is better known today for his invention of the telephone, it was another type of work he was involved with which drew his and Keller’s worlds closer.

Prior to his telecommunications work, Bell tutored people who were deaf and unable to speak. In 1886, Keller’s parents sent her to Washington DC to meet experts who could help her with her communication issues. Keller later reported that she was fond of Bell from the moment they met. They developed a strong friendship and Bell even helped Keller financially, setting up a trust fund which enabled her to attend Radcliffe College in Boston.

Their friendship meant so much to her, when Keller wrote her autobiography, she dedicated it to him, writing: “To Alexander Graham Bell, who has taught the deaf to speak and enabled the listening ear to hear speech from the Atlantic to the Rockies.”

Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini

Sadly, not all celebrity friendships last the distance. The relationship between Sherlock Holmes author Arthur Conan Doyle and the escapologist and illusionist Harry Houdini is an example.

In a textbook case of people who were complete opposites becoming great pals, Doyle had a fascination with the supernatural and believed fairies existed. The illusionist and escapology expert Harry Houdini did not, and had even attempted to expose mediums that claimed to have psychic powers, whom he believed were frauds.

However, the two men from very different backgrounds shared a close friendship for a number of years, exchanging letters before they finally met in person in around 1920. It was not to last. Conan Doyle’s fascination with the after-life led to them attending a seance in the USA where he hoped Houdini could make contact with his late mother.

Houdini was so incensed by the event, as well as the mistakes he spotted when the medium (who was also Doyle’s wife) claimed to have a message from his mother, that their friendship declined. This was in 1922, and Houdini passed away in 1926.

Gordon Brown and Shakira

This is a more recent example, a working collaboration between the worlds of politics and music which has endured for more than a decade.

When Colombian singer Shakira was top of the UK singles charts in 2006 with Hips Don’t Lie (a collaboration with Wyclef Jean), future Prime Minister Gordon Brown was nearing the end of his 10 year stint as chancellor of the exchequer.

Their very different worlds collided in the same year Shakira was at number one, when she met Mr Brown at 10 Downing Street. Away from the charts, the singer is involved in charity work, including the Education Commission, a New York-based body which aims to provide the best possible education for everyone in the world. Gordon Brown is its chair and Shakira a commissioner.

They have met on a number of occasions to discuss education concerns, including the time in 2015 she presented him with a petition, signed by 10 million people, calling for children across the world to have access to learning. The pair also spoke about education at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland in 2017.

It’s not unusual for politicians to form friendships with celebrities, especially if they share the same social aims. William Hague, a former leader of the Conservative Party, worked with the actress Angelina Jolie on issues related to victims of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Former US president Barack Obama was associated with many famous names, including Beyonce, who sang at his inauguration.