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30 Times Famous People From History Completely Shocked Us

September 12, 2023

Did you know that some of the most famous people in history have backstories that are complete surprises? We aren’t talking about finding out that George Washington had a dark side (although that’s pretty surprising, too). We mean completely unexpected things that came out about these iconic figures. For instance, you won’t believe the American woman who was a British spy during World War II…

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CRACKED COM Beate Sirota Gordon secretly introduced equal rights and women's civil rights to post-WWII Japan- and got away with it. As a part of the subcommittee tasked to write Japan's new constitution, she included a few articles that denounced gender and racial discrimination without telling anyone about it, altering Japan's civil rights forever. — Source: 31 Amazing Women Who Deserve To Be Way More Famous

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CRACKED COM Jeannette Rankin was elected as the first woman member of Congress in 1916, four years before American women were allowed to vote. I may be the first woman member of Congress, but I won't be the last. -JJannette Rankin As a determined pacifist, she voted against the participation of the US in both world wars, despite knowing that it would damage her career. After her retirement, she continued to advocate for peace, denouncing the Vietnam War. — Source: 31 Amazing Women Who Deserve To Be Way More Famous

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Yu Gwan-sun

In 1919, at the age of 16, Yu Gwan-sun fought for Korean independence, protesting Japanese colonial rule. She was sent to prison, where she organized a large-scale protest a year later. She kept fighting for independence despite torture which eventually led to her death. top She's been called the Korean and Joan of Arc. CRACKED.COM — Source: 31 Amazing Women Who Deserve To Be Way More Famous

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Photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White -- a pacesetter throughout her remarkable career -- was the first female in her line of work and the first to work war zones. Of the eight photos taken by women on Time Magazine's list of 100 most influential pictures of all time, two belong to her. Maggie the Indestructible (as her co-workers called her) was also the first photographer allowed to explore Soviet Russia's Five-Year Plan and the first photographer for both Life and Fortune Magazines. CRACKED.COM — Source: 31 Amazing Women Who Deserve To Be Way More Famous

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Zura Karuhimbi saved more than 100 people during the Rwandan genocide, using her reputation as a witch to scare killers away. Whenever a militia neared her house, where she'd hidden would-be victims, she would shake her bracelets and threaten to curse them and their families. She would even touch them with a skin-inritating herb. They avoided her house. CRACKED.COM — Source: 31 Amazing Women Who Deserve To Be Way More Famous

25

Young Pole Gertrude Boyarski saw her whole family murdered by the Germans. She then joined the Jewish partisans and mercilessly hunted down soldiers. Gertrude and a friend once volunteered to burn down a bridge frequently used by the Germans, all in honor of International Women's Day. CRACKED.COM — Source: 31 Amazing Women Who Deserve To Be Way More Famous

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American Virginia Hall was a British spy during World War II. CRACKED.COM She created a network of 90 secret agents called Heckler in southern France, helped wounded Allied pilots, executed jailbreaks, blew up bridges with the French Resistance guerrillas called The Maquis, and conducted multiple sabotage operations to support the Normandy invasion. She also wore a prosthetic wooden leg nick- named Cuthbert, and had a bounty put on her head by infamous Gestapo chief Klaus Barbie — Source: 31 Amazing Women Who Deserve To Be Way More Famous

23

Edith Cavell was a British nurse working in German- occupied Belgium during World War I. She healed, sheltered, and smuggled 75 injured British and French soldiers into Holland, as well as around 100 French and Belgian civilians. CRACKED.COM — Source: 31 Amazing Women Who Deserve To Be Way More Famous

22

Althea Gibson

CRACKED.co COM Althea Gibson was the world's #1 tennis player in 1957, and was the first to win the Wimbledon, French, and U.S. Opens. She was added to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1971, and had 11 championship titles under her belt. — Source: 31 Amazing Women Who Deserve To Be Way More Famous

21

In 1876, Belva Ann Lockwood was forbidden from arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court because she was a woman. She then spent years lobbying for a law to fix that submitting briefs, organizing petitions, and persuading senators. In 1879, she succeeded, and became the first woman lawyer heard by the Supreme Court. CRACKED.COM — Source: 31 Amazing Women Who Deserve To Be Way More Famous

20

Mary Kenner

In 1957, Mary Kenner patented a sanitary napkin worn on an adjustable belt, for menstrual periods. Most women were still using cloths and rags, so this was revolutionary; and was widely used until disposable pads came along in the 1970s. Kenner kept inventing despite rejections just for being a black woman, and filed more patents than any other African-American woman. CRACKED.COM — Source: 31 Amazing Women Who Deserve To Be Way More Famous

19

Roza Shanina

When her three brothers died in battle in WWII, Roza Shanina quit her job as a kindergarten teacher and joined the Red Army. She became a sniper, made 54 confirmed kills, and was the first female sniper to get the USSR's award for courage in battle, the Order of Glory. She died trying to shield a wounded comrade from enemy fire. CRACKED.COM — Source: 31 Amazing Women Who Deserve To Be Way More Famous

18

Paul Gauguin died poor and alone. Despite painting several masterpieces, Gauguin failed to make much of an impression on turn- of-the-century critics and art buyers. His art only began to be acclaimed after his death in 1901, influencing artists like Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse. CRACKED.COM — Source: 25 Famous People Who Were Total Nobodies While They Were Alive

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H. P. Lovecraft was mostly unknown during his lifetime. The creator of Cthulhu only ever wrote for pulp magazines, earning barely enough to cover his basic expenses, until he died from cancer in 1937. CRACKED.COM — Source: 25 Famous People Who Were Total Nobodies While They Were Alive

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Robert Johnson

Very little is known about Robert Johnson. Johnson is considered one of the best guitar players in history, and an inspiration for Bob Dylan, Keith Richards, and many others. But he only ever played in juke joints and street corners before dying at 27. CRACKED.COM — Source: 25 Famous People Who Were Total Nobodies While They Were Alive

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Herman Melville died unappreciated. Herman Melville MOBY DICK Melville made very little as an author. His novel Moby Dick, now taught in schools around the world, was initially met with negative reviews. CRACKED.COM — Source: 25 Famous People Who Were Total Nobodies While They Were Alive

14

Gone Too Soon

James Dean's stardom lasted just one year. Other than bit parts, Dean was in only three movies. Two of those were released after his death, including Rebel Without a Cause, which turned him into a legend. CRACKED.COM — Source: 25 Famous People Who Were Total Nobodies While They Were Alive

13

John Kennedy Toole died thinking he was a failure. A @ntederacy of Dunces Toole's novel A Novelby John Kennedy foole Foreword by Walker Parcy A Confederacy of Dunces was published to great acclaim in 1980, 11 years after his suicide, and it went on to win the Pulitzer Prize. CRACKED.COM — Source: 25 Famous People Who Were Total Nobodies While They Were Alive

12

Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh died as he was starting to get attention. Some of van Gogh's most famous paintings were completed not too long before his death, WHEN interest in his work was growing. CRACKED.COM — Source: 25 Famous People Who Were Total Nobodies While They Were Alive

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Bruce Lee wasn't too well-known in the U.S. Lee was already a big star in Asia, but it took 1973's Enter the Dragon to make him a true household name stateside. Sadly, he died a month before the movie was released. CRACKED.COM — Source: 25 Famous People Who Were Total Nobodies While They Were Alive

10

Confucius

Confucius wasn't always popular. While Kong Qiu had some loyal students, he was relatively unknown in China during his lifetime. Only centuries later did his teachings become widespread, and he came to be known as Kong Fuzi, or Master Kong. tools CRACKED.COM — Source: 25 Famous People Who Were Total Nobodies While They Were Alive

9

freecess certainly CRACKED.COM Jane Austen was all but unread for decades. the it Popular interest in writing affort Austen's work was only sparked when her nephew published her biography in 1869, over 50 years after her death. salve it be week PRIDEEPREJUDICE — Source: 25 Famous People Who Were Total Nobodies While They Were Alive

8

Elton John is Eminem's AA Sponsor When he first wanted to get sober, Eminem called Elton John, who has been sober since 1990. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source: 14 Facts About Historical People (History Left Out)

7

President Hoover briefly had a possum as a pet at the White House. Some toymakers tried and failed to market Billy the Possum toys. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source: 14 Facts About Historical People (History Left Out)

6

Madame Tussaud

Madame Tussaud made death masks of the heads of her guillotined friends The wax figure modeler and royalist was assigned the morbid task. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source: 14 Facts About Historical People (History Left Out)

5

Before pulling much bigger pranks, like the classic I'll steal your life's work without credit gag, Edison started with much smaller ones, such as minor electrocution. Early in his career, Edison enjoyed wiring a water bucket to a battery, so every time one of his co-workers went to get a drink they'd get zapped. CRACKED.COM — Source: 12 Famous Figures That Loved To Troll

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30 Times Famous People From History Completely Shocked Us — Source: 12 Famous Figures That Loved To Troll

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30 Times Famous People From History Completely Shocked Us — Source: 12 Famous Figures That Loved To Troll

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William Buckland introduced most of the world to dinosaur fossils. He also introduced Oxford College to bat poop. Buckland was batsh*t crazy for using guano as fertilizer, and decided to show its superiority by using it to spell GUANO across Oxford's lawn. The GUANO-fed grass grew much quicker than the regular stuff, and due to it being impossible to mow away, it left a constant reminder as to why that was. CRACKED — Source: 12 Famous Figures That Loved To Troll

1

Taking advantage of his mad genius persona, Nikola Tesla found a way to ditch a massive hotel bill. Instead of cash, he offered the hotel a bogus death beam, which he described as a dangerous weapon that could detonate if opened without proper precautions. The hotel of course accepted, because who doesn't want a weapon of mass destruction for shelf decor? CRACKED — Source: 12 Famous Figures That Loved To Troll

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