A lot of men and women from the past have had their names dragged through the mud after they’ve passed on.
Some obviously deserve every bad word that was ever printed about them, but some people have been unfairly judged by history…until today.
Because these folks are gonna set the record straight!
AskReddit users talked about the “bad guys” from history who weren’t really all that bad.
Let’s take a look.
1. A sad story.
“Richard Jewell.
He was an on duty security guard during the ’96 summer Olympics and found a bomb. He notified authorities and helped evacuate people to safety.
He was then accused of planting the bomb, even though it was Eric Rudolph who actually did it.”
2. Never knew that.
“William Murdoch was the guy who sh**ts two passengers and then himself in “Titanic.”
In reality, while there were reports of an officer shooting two passengers and then committing s**cide, there was nothing confirming it to have been Murdoch.
In fact, Murdoch was in charge of launching life boats on the starboard side and had launched more than half of his fully loaded lifeboats before anyone else launched any. No one knows for sure what happened to him aside that he was lost with the ship.”
3. Boxing great.
“The film Cinderella Man portrayed boxer Max Baer as a m**derous psychopath who gladly ki**ed two fighters in the ring.
In reality, he was personally devastated by these d**ths. In the one he was most directly responsible for, he ended up giving his winnings from his next few fights to the fighters family.”
4. Hail to the king.
“Richard III of England is getting another look.
They say he was actually a good king and that after he was deposed it was all the propaganda that ruined his name.”
5. Ancient history.
“Claudius was a decent emperor, in my opinion.
He wasn’t quite Augustus but if you compare him to the men who preceded and succeeded him (Gaius and Nero) he was a saint.”
6. Not a monster.
“Captain William Bligh of the HMS Bounty. Portrayed as a monster in novels and films. He was actually a well thought of Naval Officer who when forced off his ship sailed a small craft 4,000 miles with minimal provisions.
When there was no suitable craft available he and his crew then built their own and sailed from East Timor back to England. He was exonerated by the courts, and had a successful career as Governor of New South Wales.”
7. African leader.
“Thomas Sankara.
When he lead Burkina Faso it was probably the most progressive African nation at the time, and even by todays standards it would be up there when compared to them.
He was also responsible for not only making it less reliant on France, but also it’s name (which used to be ‘Upper Volta’), and interestingly since he was a guitarist he also wrote the new national anthem.
He was a**assinated in 1987 after a coup.
8. Unfair.
“The play Mozart and Salieri (and later the film Amadeus) popularized the idea that Mozart’s rival, Antonio Salieri, was a huge jerk who ultimately ki**ed Mozart.
But in reality there’s no indication that Mozart was poisoned, or that Salieri had anything to do with his d**th.
Also Salieri was a philanthropist and probably a lot more decent than theater/film made him out to be when they needed an antagonist for Mozart.”
9. Notable women.
“Anne Boleyn.
When the king sets his eyes on you, you don’t really get to say no. He’d already had his way with her sister and discarded her and their bastard son. So instead of being another ruined castoff she played her bad hand to the best of her ability and made herself a queen.
Eventually Henry got tired of her, which was his MO, after she “failed” to produce any living sons and he’d already set his sights on Jane. He needed a viable reason to get rid of her, and what better way to do it than rumors of infidelity, incest and witchcraft? He probably would have done something similar to Catherine of Aragon if she wasn’t from a royal house you did not want to f**k with.
Helen of Troy is also similarly maligned. All she did was leave her (probably brutish) husband for another man. Agamemnon didn’t give a single f**k about his brother’s wife (property) but her “abduction” did give him a perfect reason to go to war.
Even if she’d tried to hand herself over – to almost certainly be ki**ed by her enraged husband – it wouldn’t have ended anything because she was just an excuse.”
10. A big one.
“Cleopatra.
A lot of historians for the longest time saw her as Augustus portrayed her. As an evil seductress and ruined perfectly good Romans. It was a lot more complicated and she was a very smart, effective ruler.
Was she perfect? No, no one is but she isn’t this monster people like to portray her as.”
11. Yup.
“Monica Lewinski. Gonna leave it at that.
Pretty messed up how the world blamed the young intern for the s** scandal instead of the powerful, much older president…”
12. A French icon.
“Marie Antoinette.
She was far from perfect, yes, but she was shipped away from home at 14 years old to a country that hated pretty much everything about her home land, with an economy that was already starting to fray at the seams. Yes, she lived extravagantly (Being literally the QUEEN and having to keep up appearances), but she was often falsely accused of major f**k-ups that she had nothing to do with.
She never said “Let them eat cake”. She was impersonated and held responsible for one of the most expensive jewelry pieces in France’s history. The people of France were NEVER going to like her, and took every opportunity to hate her more.”
Now we want to hear from you.
In the comments, tell us who you think has gotten a raw deal in the history books.
Thanks in advance!
