I’m just going out on a limb here, but I’m going to guess that 100% of these are wealthy white males.
And I mean, that’s fair because history lopsidedly remembers those types of people, since they tend to be the “winners” and the rulers and the people who learn how to read and write.
But hey, don’t take my word for it – I’m more of a history dabbler, since I never finished my Master’s.
These 15 people really know what they’re talking about!
13. Someone is really passionate about this topic.
Lajos f**king Kossuth.
He’s a Hungarian history figure who lived 1802 – 1894, but most notably he declared himself as Governor-President of the Kingdom of Hungary during the 1848-’49 revolution.
For those of you who are not really familiar with Hungarian history, the short verion is: we were f**ked by everyone and never had independence since the early 1300s. This time we had beef with the Habsburgs. We really wanted independence, have Hungarian as the official language and the liberation of the serfdom. Sounds cool.
Before the revolution the two most outstanding political figures were Kossuth and Count István Széchenyi (he’s actually a really cool dude, and I think he deserved the title “the Greatest Hungarian”). They both wanted the same things but Kossuth wanted everything ASAP, while Széchenyi understood that change takes time. So of course they didn’t like each other. (With some other factors) Kossuth ended up “bullying” Széchenyi out of politics.
I give Kossuth the credit for being smart and charismatic, who could motivate people with his speeches. (So one time he basically started a rally amongst common folk, because other politicians told him that dethroning the king was a bad f-ing idea. But because of the massive amount of people surrounding them, they couldn’t really say no. So they did dethrone the king)
During the revolution we sucked a$$. Not getting into details, we had more downs than ups. (Also some minorities revolted against Kossuth, who would not give them any rights)
Enter one of my favorite historical figure: Artúr Görgei. He was the greatest general in this whole scene. (And finally he has his own exhibition). He actually won against some Austrian army corps. Kossuth hated him- most likely because he feared his power- and did everything to remove him from charge.
But the Austrian king (Ferdinand the 5th) asked the Russian Emperor (Nicholas the 1st) for help. So, Hungary is a small country with a small population, Russia on the other hand… you see where this is going. Görgei wanted to go west and destroy the Austrian army, before the Russians arrive. Otherwise we’re f**ked. Sounds great. Not for Kossuth. He wanted to wait until the two armies merge in the east- because if they loose, he can emigrate to Turkey.
The latter happened, and Kossuth as his las f**king move, stepped back from being Governor-President and appointed Görgei. A few days later On August 13rd, it was clear that Hungary had lost. In a hopeless situation, Görgei signed a surrender at Világos.
Kossuth emigrated to Turkey, but tried to control everything from afar. Writing the Cassandra letter, that if we make peace with the Austrians Hungary will no longer exist. Which was bulls**t. Our industry and agriculture f**king blossomed after. As a really great university professor one said “Kossuth threw a big rock up in the air and pushed Görgei under it” (basically he threw him under the bus). What baffles me about this absolutely garbage of a person, that he has the biggest mausoleum in all of Hungary. It’s made out of gold, marble and all that jazz. (You know what Görgei has? A f-ing black iron cross)
God I hate him so much. Btw he died in Italy, and he still has a huge following because he was “so great” that every f**king town has to have at least on road named after him.
12. This really came through in Ford vs. Ferrari.
Henry Ford.
In business, engineering, and manufacturing, he’s revered like a god. Professors like to gloss over his overwhelming anti-semitism.
Ford wrote and published a wildly anti-Semitic newspaper, which were spread around the Ford Motors facilities. Those papers were republished in Germany and became incredibly popular with the Third Reich. Heinrich Himmler described Ford as “one of our most valuable, important, and witty fighters”. Hitler praised Ford in Mein Kampf and referred to Ford as an “inspiration”.
The admiration went both ways, because Ford was a Nazi sympathizer to the highest degree, hosting Hitler’s representatives in his home and hobnobbing with Nazi officers. On his 75th birthday, he was awarded the Grand Cross of the German Eagle, the highest medal Nazi Germany could bestow on an American.
But all anyone cares about are his f-ing assembly lines which he didn’t even invent. The assembly line idea actually came from Ransom E. Olds.
11. Oh yeah a little girl did it first and did it better.
Not the most overrated but first guy that comes to mind is America’s only Paul Revere.
Don’t get me wrong, yes he was a good guy and he played a role in our nation’s fate that night. But did you know he wasn’t the only man on the Midnight Ride?
A lot of the work and credit goes to his two peers that night. Revere only gets the credit because his name rhymed nicely in the poem written about him.
I only know this because my grandma pointed out that we’re related to one of the other two men, William Dawes. I’m too lazy to look up the other guy’s name or how much of a role each of the three played in the event, but my basic memory tells me Revere wasn’t the most critical player of the three. In fact, and I could be wrong, he got caught before he finished his role which led the real heroism to one of the other two.
So yeah, thanks Paul Revere, but let’s give credit to the other guys who warned us of the British that night. We can’t all have nice sounding names, though, so your name is remembered while the other two have been forgotten by most, other than historians and nerds.
10. That is one controversial take.
F**k it. I’m off to the “Controversial” section
Muhammed.
Muhammad’s sincerity in claiming to be a prophet, his morality, his ownership of slaves, his treatment of enemies, his his marriages, his treatment of doctrinal matters, and his psychological state. Muhammad has been accused of sadism and mercilessness, including the invasion of the Baru Qurazya tribe in Medina, s*xual relationships with slaves, and his marriage to Aisha when she was six years old, which according to most estimates was consummated when she was nine.
To be honest, if this is Gods messenger, I would rather go to hell.
9. If this doesn’t tickle your funny bone I don’t know what will.
Erwin Schrödinger.
He is both overrated and underrated simultaneously.
Think about it….
8. There’s always gotta be one.
Waldo.
Why should anyone even care to search for him, he’s done nothing.
The fact that he’s always hiding is probably because he’s done something wrong.
Plus that f**ker only has one shirt.
7. And a terrorist, I believe.
Pablo Escobar, he was a murderer.
You shouldn’t like him!
6. Some people think way too highly of themselves.
Douglas Macarthur.
Was obsessed with his legacy while being a far less capable leader than many of the other overlooked commanders in the Pacific theater. He spent thousands of lives in battles on islands that had little strategic significance, declared the battle for the Philippines over while intense fighting raged on, and was disliked by many serving under him.
Go listen to/read Max Hastings’ “Retribution: The Battle for Japan” for a great deep dive into the Pacific War
5. He really didn’t do anything at all.
Tutenkhamun. Or King Tut as he is sometimes referred.
He was a boy Pharaoh that only reached the age of maybe 18, born from incest and suffered scoliosis a bad foot (walked with a cane) and contracted malaria, and likely died from an infection from a broken leg.
Also when he came to power married his sister and had two miscarriages. This poor boy had lots of power, but was sick all his life and likely his advisors made all decisions for him and eventually succeeded him.
Also had a very short reign that ended with Egypt at war (they would lose under his successor).
4. This is wholly accurate.
Henry VIII
Let’s be honest, all he did was strong arm the church so he could marry another woman the fat greedy sod.
3. Well, this is awkward.
Coco Chanel.
I have recently found out she was apparently a Nazi agent who went under the code name ‘Westminster’.
She spent most of WW2 in Paris in the Ritz sleeping with Nazi officers and had direct contact to Himmler and Goebbels.
She even insisted all Jewish directors of her brand be removed.
2. That does seem to be a bit of a problem.
Ioannis Metaxas.
He was the leader of Greece from 1936 to1941. Most famous for not surrendering to fascist Italy during WW2. The only problem is that Metaxas was a fascist dictator himself.
1. We can definitely dedicate those pages to someone better.
Guy Fawkes.
He was a minor cog in a conspiracy that he didn’t even know all that much about. He was tasked with a dead simple objective, and he failed. He gave up the names of all the co-conspirators that he knew about, but most of them operated on a much higher level than this chump, so they got off mostly scot-free.
He had one job and he f**ked up three, basically. He doesn’t deserve the pages that his story is written on in history books.
I have say, I honestly agree with every single one of these!
Do you have a quibble? Is someone missing? Let’s talk it out in the comments!
