In history class, we always learn about the same events that were completed by the same people. But here’s the thing: sometimes those stories are seriously inflated. Even stories about the bravest and most intelligent generals have been widely overinflated—we’re talking about George Washington.
After doing a little digging, it isn’t easy to see that a lot of the people we’ve held to high esteem are less cool than we thought. Sure, they may have done something great, but it wasn’t like they saved the world. Basically, they’re severely overrated.
Heck, did you know that Guy Fawkes completely screwed up his mission? After reading about his history, it’s a wonder anyone looks at him as being some kind of hero. In fact, we have 25 other people that are totally overrated and don’t really deserve the fame they get.
Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur is a far less capable leader than other commanders in the Pacific theater. He used lives like they were pawns and declared the battle for the Philippines over despite the fight still raging on. Not to mention, he was disliked by many who served under him.
Henry VIII
Henry the VIII did nothing more than strong-arm the church so he could marry another woman, which he’d probably been cheating with. Somehow, he became one of the most recognizable rulers, even though his daughter was a much better ruler, Elizabeth I.
Coco Chanel
Coco Chanel was a Nazi agent who went under the code name “Westminster.” She spent most of WWII supporting German officers and even Himmler. She also insisted all Jewish directors of her brand be removed.
Waldo
Here’s a question: why search for a guy that’s done nothing? The fact that he’s hiding probably indicates that he’s done something wrong. Oh, and he only has one shirt. Gross.
Guy Fawkes
Guy Fawkes didn’t orchestrate everything. He was just a minor cog in a conspiracy that he didn’t even know that much about. He was tasked with a simple objective that he failed. Then, he snitched on every co-conspirator he knew about. He had one job, and he managed to mess up three.
Paul Revere
Paul Revere played a major role in our nation’s fate, but he wasn’t the only man on that Midnight Ride. He also a few other peers that night, but Revere gets all the credit because his name rhymes easily. The others? Samuel Prescott, Israel Bissel, and William Dawes. How hard is it to rhyme with Dawes, really?
King Tut
Tutankhamun, or King Tut, was a boy pharaoh that really only lived to be around 18. He suffered scoliosis so bad that he had to walk with a cane and was constantly sickly. Also, he married his sister, who had two miscarriages. He had lots of power, but his rule was anything but epic.
Pythagoras
Did you know that Pythagoras didn’t even invent the Pythagorean theorem, A2 + B2 = C2? One of his students actually did, and he stole it. To be fair, he did make it better and proved it, but the student is the one that started the whole thing.
Garfield
Garfield…the cat? Yes. Garfield the cat. Everyone hates Mondays, alright? Him hating Mondays isn’t special.
Walt Disney
Walt Disney was one of the big reasons copyright laws are so messed up nowadays. The ironic thing is that he didn’t even come up with Mickey Mouse. It was one of his animators, and he ran with it.
Beyonce
Beyoncé is a good singer, but she’s incredibly overrated. She’s got a group of people that worship her like a queen. Sure, she’s done some really great things, but she doesn’t even write her own songs. Apparently, her album “Lemonade” had 62 writers.
Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison wasn’t really an inventor. Instead, he would take ideas from other people and refine them to be a viable product. He didn’t invent the lightbulb. He just refined it. He was smart, but let’s stop accrediting the light blub to him, please?
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell is often seen as a powerhouse, but he ruled near dictatorially. Not to mention, he also set out to destroy the Irish peoples to the point where it was practically genocide.
Henry Kissinger
Henry Kissinger guided United States foreign policy to support a lot of dictatorships. That, in turn, ended up hurting people all over the world and made the U.S. an enemy of many nations. He was short-sighted, and people call him a genius.
Ronald Regan
Reagan is a popular president, but he wasn’t a great one. Reagan caused huge budget deficits, ignored the environment, and did nothing about the AIDS epidemic that was looming over the nation. Plus, there was the whole Iran-Contra scandal.
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was supposedly talented and beautiful. While she was beautiful, she was a mediocre actress at best. Along with her bad hygiene, it was very difficult to get her to show up to work. She was frequently late and made absurd demands of directors. She could have really turned herself into something amazing, but nope.
Archduke Ferdinand
Ferdinand is best remembered for his assassination, which “caused” WWI. The reality of the situation is that WWI would have happened whether he was involved or not. Austria was just looking for an excuse to attack Serbia.
Muhammad
Muhammad is called a prophet of God, but he owned slaves, treated enemies horribly, and has been accused of being a sadist and merciless. He also married Aisha when she was just six years old.
Cleopatra
Cleopatra wasn’t the most impressive Egyptian ruler—that would be Hatshepsut. Hatshepsut accomplished far more for her nation, and she was the only woman to act as pharaoh that was native to Egypt. Cleopatra wasn’t even Egyptian! She was Greek!
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson ignored the Supreme Court and sent thousands of people on the Trail of Tears. No matter how much good he did, there’s no excuse for rounding up and forcing native American peoples to march across our nation.
King Arthur
We’re gonna tell you a secret: King Arthur never actually existed. There may have been a similar king, but the stories are greatly exaggerated so it could be used to promote Christianity and unify the Britons against the Anglo-Saxons.
William Wallace
Not much of William Wallace’s life was recorded, so we’re not even really sure what he did. In addition to this, his stories were extremely over-embellished. The only thing that was recorded was the battles in Sterling and Falkirk, as well as his capture and execution.
Nostradamus
If you can predict the future, maybe write it in plain text? Nostradamus apparently predicted the future, but he “recorded” his findings in poems that could be interpreted to match any event.
George Washington
Sure, he was a founding father, but some say he was also a social climber. He also wasn’t as honest as our cherry-tree story led us to believe. Washington got pretty good at getting others to take the blame for his mistakes.