The Most Bad@ss People Who Ever Lived
Reddit user BlackManBatmann asked: 'Who is the most bad@ss person to have ever lived?'
A bad@ss is defined as:
"a tough, uncompromising, or intimidating person."
The term is attributed to North America, dating back to 1809. But use remained fairly minimal throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.
The term really took off at the beginning of the 21st century and continued a swift upward trajectory until the present.
Even though the widespread use of the term is relatively recent, the attitude and attributes of a bad@ss goes back to the beginning of human existence.
Reddit user BlackManBatmann asked:
"Who is the most bad@ss person to have ever lived?"
Grandparents
"My Grandpa Liberatus."
"Was working solo on his farm in the 1950’s, when both hands were sucked into an auger slicing them up right to the shoulders. Was able to kick the controls to reverse the blades and get himself out, then drove himself in a grainery truck 45 minutes to the hospital, steering and shifting gears with his knees."
"Doctors were able to save one arm above the elbow but none of the other."
"Still worked another 40 years with hooks for arms, fathered 9 children, 6 after his accident and harvested 1000 acres on a hundred year old family farm."
"Smoked like a chimney, drank like a fish, ate red meat 3 times a day, passed away in his sleep 2 days before his 99th birthday."
"He was a hard man, but absolutely devoted to his family and was a great Grandfather to over 20 grandkids. He taught me about resiliency, resourcefulness and mental toughness."
"Every grandkid, on their first birthday, got a rocking horse that he built in his workshop using hand tools that he built custom attachments for his prosthetics."
"I still have mine, from 56 years ago, as a reminder of him when times are tough."
"Grandma was named Elspeth and was a formidable woman in her own right. Raised a family of 11 in a two room farmhouse they lived in until the early 1960’s."
"She outlived Liberatus by 4 years and was always canning and preserving food. When we finally started clearing out their house after her death we found in excess of 10,000 jars of pickled and preserved food n her cellar."
"They were hard people, they had to be, but they were also in love right to the end."
"Married for almost 77 years I still remember them in the living room watching Hockey Night in Canada, holding hands on the couch. His arm around her, her gripping one of his hooks."
~ LOUDCO-HD
Giles Corey
"Giles 'more weight' Corey was pretty badass."
"Refused to testify at the Salem witch trials, so they 'pressed' him."
"They piled rocks on top of him as torture to force him to testify that his wife was a witch. They piled rock after rock on top of him."
"His last words were 'more weight', then he died."
~ epicmoe
Rotmistrz Witold Pilecki
"Rotmistrz Witold Pilecki."
"He purposely made himself be caught and thrown into Nazi death camp in Auschwitz to infiltrate it and organize underground resistance and do general recon."
"He then escaped with another prisoner to fight in Warsaw uprising."
~ IloveZaki
"Not just that, but immediately following the Warsaw Uprising, he was thrown into a German POW camp."
"After the war, he returned to his homeland of Poland, even with the knowledge he would likely be killed by the Polish Communist party for being loyal to the government-in-exile and he was in 1948."
"He had also co-founded the Polish Resistance."
~ designing-cats
Joe Medicine Crow
"Joe Medicine Crow, the last Warchief of the Crow."
"He completed all the ritual rights to become Warchief while fighting in WWII."
"Which included taking an enemies weapon, touching an enemy without killing him, leading a war party and stealing an enemies horse—he stole 50 from the SS."
"The war party came naturally and he got the disarm and the touch without killing at the same time but the horses was going to be challenging."
"They came across some SS holed up in a barn. They surrounded the barn and were waiting for dawn to attack, Joe convinced his CO to let him go and release the horses because they don't deserve to die."
"He snuck past the guard and opened up the whole corral and got onto a horse bareback and rode off with 50 horses while chanting a Crow war song. Meanwhile the Americans are mowing the platoon of SS down as they come out and try to stop Joe from riding off with their horses."
"The dude was a straight up f**king gangster."
~ RIPnts
Desmond Doss
"Private Desmond Doss (Hacksaw Ridge is the movie about his life)."
"He refused to use a gun but carried 75 men to safety including two of the wounded Japanese soldiers on the other side & used his medical knowledge to save their lives."
"He is the only conscientious objector to be awarded the Medal of Honor as awarded by President Harry S. Truman."
~ Redditor
"Hacksaw Ridge is missing a neat fact about him."
"At that battle he was wounded (I think 6 times but I'm not positive) but it was left out of the movie because it was felt to be too unbelievable."
~ Supraman83
Mary Vincent
"Mary Vincent."
"She had her arms amputated a serial killer, was left for dead in a drainage pipe, and somehow got herself to safety and survived."
"She was able to testify, but 14 years was the maximum penalty.
"She worked to get him put on death row after he was released early for good behavior and killed a mother of three in 1998."
~ kittengoesrawr
"She couldn’t afford to buy high-end prosthetic arms, so she created her own using parts from refrigerators and stereo systems, and she taught herself to draw and paint using her inventions."
"A depraved killer cut off her arms, and not only did he only get eight years, but the state couldn't even be bothered to pay for her prosthetic arms."
~ MrDownhillRacer
Galvarino
"Galvarino."
"He was a Mapuche warrior whose hands were amputated by Spanish conquistadors."
"His response?"
"He rigged blades to his wrist stumps and led a rebellion against the Spanish."
~ DontBuyAHorse
Vasily Aleksandrovich Arkhipov
"Vasily Arkhipov, the man who saved the world."
"He was a Soviet naval commander (brigade chief of staff) during the Cuban missile crisis who refused to launch a nuclear weapon.
"The ship he was on required three officers to be in agreement to fire the weapon, and only Arkhipov was against it, despite the potential career and personal repercussions."
"It's possibly apocryphal, but it's said that he swallowed his key so the weapon couldn't be fired unless he was cut open."
"Stanislav Petrov also saved the world from nuclear war in the 80's, and that should never be forgotten, but I'd argue that the stakes were higher for Arkhipov and the threat of nuclear war was much, much more imminent in the midst of a pissing battle between the Kennedy's and Khrushchev."
~ designing-cats
Raul Perez "Roy" Benavidez
"Master Sergeant Roy Benavidez, an Indigenous Yaqui and Mexican member of the Army Special Forces."
"On May 2, 1968, a 12-man Special Forces patrol with nine Montagnard (Indigenous Vietnamese) tribesmen, was surrounded by a North Vietnamese Army (NVA) infantry battalion of about 1,000 men."
"Benavidez heard the radio appeal for help and boarded a helicopter to respond. Armed only with a knife, he jumped from the helicopter carrying his medical bag and ran to help the trapped patrol."
"According to his Medal of Honor commendation, Benavidez 'distinguished himself by a series of daring and extremely valorous actions and because of his gallant choice to join voluntarily his comrades who were in critical straits, to expose himself constantly to withering enemy fire, and his refusal to be stopped despite numerous severe wounds, saved the lives of at least eight men'."
"During his Medal of Honor ceremony in 1981, President Ronald Reagan told the press, 'If the story of his heroism were a movie script, you would not believe it'."
"At one point in the battle an NVA soldier accosted him and stabbed him with his bayonet. Benavidez pulled it out, drew his own knife, killed him and kept going, leaving his knife in the NVA soldier's body."
"He later killed two more NVA soldiers with an AK-47 while providing cover fire for the people boarding the helicopter."
"After the battle, he was evacuated to the base camp, examined, and thought to be dead. As he was placed in a body bag among the other dead in body bags, he was suddenly recognized by a friend who called for help."
"A doctor came and examined him but believed Benavidez was dead. The doctor was about to zip up the body bag when Benavidez managed to spit in his face to show that he was alive."
"Benavidez had a total of 37 separate bullet, bayonet, and shrapnel wounds from the six-hour fight with the enemy battalion."
~ ComesInAnOldBox
But, there's more...
"His Medal of Honor isn’t even the craziest part. Let’s talk about his career before that."
"In 1965 he stepped on a landmine, and doctors said he would never walk again. He was so upset by this diagnosis that against doctors orders he secretly got up in the middle of the night and rehabilitated himself."
"Benavidez would crawl using his elbows and chin to a wall near his bedside and (with the encouragement of his fellow patients, many of whom were permanently paralyzed and/or missing limbs) he would prop himself against the wall and attempt to lift himself unaided, starting by wiggling his toes, then his feet, and then eventually (after several months of excruciating practice that, by his own admission, often left him in tears) pushing himself up the wall with his ankles and legs."
"After over a year of hospitalization, Benavidez walked out of the hospital in July 1966, with his wife at his side."
~ iamspartacus5339
Benavidez served in the Texas Army National Guard beginning in 1952 at age 17 during the Korean War until 1955 when he enlisted in active duty Army where he served until retiring in 1976 at age 41.
In retirement, Benavidez became a public speaker, volunteered for youth organizations and wrote three autobiographies: The Three Wars of Roy Benavidez, The Last Medal of Honor and Medal of Honor: A Vietnam Warrior's Story.
He died on November 29, 1998, at the age of 63. Master Sergeant Roy Benavidez was buried with full military honors at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.
There are some definite bad@sses in this list.
Who would you add?
People Break Down What Screams 'I Am Not As Bad@ss As I Pretend To Be'
You've probably run into that person.
You know... THAT person.
The one who thinks they're such a badass, that they're so strong, and powerful... and they make a business of telling that to every other person they meet.
Suffice it to say that if this person was truly a bad@ss, they wouldn't feel the need to tell everyone.
People shared their thoughts after Redditor ThatOddFrenchNobody asked the online community:
"What screams, 'I am not the bad@ss I pretend to be?"
"Some picture..."
"Same picture of a lion that 20,000 others already posted to prove how they're not sheep that fall in line."
User deleted
Social media users really do not see the irony here, do they?
"Refusing..."
"Refusing to wear safety equipment like helmets when its available. True badasses (including truly skilled people) have goals in doing dangerous shit, and they understand the challenges in carrying it out."
SilverYayFern
Makes me think of skiing and snowboarding. Nobody thinks you're cool if you don't wear a helmet.
"Demanding respect..."
"Demanding respect, but giving none to anyone."
yankstraveler
These people are the worst – and they think other people don't notice.
"I would have..."
"'I would have enlisted and probably made Special Forces, but I would have punched a Drill Sergeant if they had gotten in my face.' Sure, bud."
aircavrocker
Yeah... because they always trust the guy who can't control himself or follow orders to the highest ranks of the military and they give them the biggest guns too.
"Claiming to be..."
"Claiming to be 'crazy' like it's something to aspire to. In this context it just means abandoning tact and acting like an a**hole to feel like a badass."
supremepuella
"You want to see crazy? I'll show you crazy!"
How many people have you met who gloat that way? Quite a few, right?
"Uploading video..."
"Uploading video of yourself saying how bad@ss you are."
_Goose_
The people who upload this stuff to YouTube are ridiculous.
"Continually requesting a fight, but never actually starting the fight."
AlterEdward
There's a South Park episode that nails this.
"The biggest indicator..."
"The biggest indicator that you are not a bad@ss is telling me you are a bad@ss. If you have to tell me how important you are, you are not terribly important."
acecarol1
Yeah, if you were truly a bad@ss, you wouldn't have to go around telling everyone. We would all just know.
"Anyone who gives..."
"Anyone who gives themselves a tough-sounding nickname. They are to be earned, not self-imposed."
history7s
I can't even describe how much I cringed just now.
"I'm prior enlisted..."
"I'm prior enlisted in the Marines and I'm happy I was in, but now that I'm out that time has passed, I can't stand people that were in and it's their entire identity after they get out. All clothes are military stuff, vehicles covered in military decals, all they talk about is when they were in and so on."
"For anyone that wasn't in, the easiest way to tell someone that was in the military but weren't in any kind of real combat situations is if they wear and do all that crap."
Mac2311
I cringed again. The military is not fun – why make it your entire personality?
"People who are overtly aggressive towards others for literally no reason or constantly bring up fighting. Especially when drinking."
thegracefulbanana
Indeed – it makes you come off like you have something to prove or you’ve never actually been in a real, fair fight.
"Any reference..."
"Any reference to oneself as 'alpha.'"
Ate13ee
These people are so sad. They also don't understand the actual roles that alphas play in the wild, which is to hold responsibility for protecting others in the cohort from predators.
Admit it: You've run into every person like this, haven't you? You're cringing remembering all of these people, aren't you?
It's okay, so are we.
Have some observations of your own? Feel free to tell us more in the comments below!
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History is full of fascinating people, but you wouldn't know it from your basic history class.
Many of you probably had a hard time with history growing up because it's not taught or presented contextually.
Instead, it's presented in a way that places more emphasis on memorization than on comprehension.
"Who are some of the most bad-ass people in history?"
This was today's burning question from Redditor mrnutterbutter, whom we hope inspired you to learn more about the very real people—who led very real lives—and helped bring about the world we live in right now.
"He was an abolitionist politician..."
"He was an abolitionist politician and certified badass from Kentucky who freed all of his slaves upon inheriting his father's plantation, letting them stay and paying them a fair wage. He was the OG progressive and did not take sh!t from anyone. It's no wonder Muhammad Ali was named after him."
"What is written below isn't even 10% of the absolute badassery this man accomplished in his life. If you want the full story, check out the dollop episode in the comments."
"Clay had a reputation as a rebel and a fighter. Due to threats on his life, he had become accustomed to carrying two pistols and a knife for protection. He installed a cannon to protect his home and office."
"In 1845, Clay began publishing an anti-slavery newspaper, True American, in Lexington, Kentucky. Within a month he received death threats, had to arm himself, and regularly barricaded the armored doors of his newspaper office for protection, besides setting up two four-pounder cannons inside."
"During a political debate in 1843, he survived an assassination attempt by Sam Brown, a hired gun. The scabbard of Clay's Bowie knife was tipped with silver, and in jerking the Bowie knife out in retaliation pulled this scabbard up so that it was just over his heart. Sam Brown's bullet struck the scabbard, and embedded itself in the silver. Despite being shot in the chest, Clay drew his Bowie knife, tackled Brown, cut out his eyes, and finally threw him over an embankment."
This "embankment" was actually the top of the Russell Cave (for which Russell Cave Rd is named after), trivia for any of you native Lexingtonians. It's on Mt. Brilliant farm just south of Elkhorn Creek, where the event was hosted."
"Clay served in the Mexican–American War as a captain with the 1st Kentucky Cavalry from 1846 to 1847. He opposed the annexation of Texas and expansion of slavery into the Southwest. While making a speech for abolition in 1849, Clay was attacked by the six Turner brothers, who beat, stabbed and tried to shoot him. In the ensuing fight, Clay fought off all six and, using his Bowie knife, killed Cyrus Turner."
"He was instrumental in the institution of the Emancipation Proclamation: "Recalled to the United States in 1862 to accept a commission from Lincoln as a major general with the Union Army, Clay publicly refused to accept it unless Lincoln would agree to emancipate slaves under Confederate control. Lincoln sent Clay to Kentucky to assess the mood for emancipation there and in the other border states. Following Clay's return to Washington, DC, Lincoln issued the proclamation in late 1862, to take effect in January 1863."
"He was also appointed minister to Russia and was present for the Tsar's emancipation of the serfs. And his house has (it's still standing) an extremely early form of indoor plumbing and central heating that was revolutionary for the time. He donated 10 acres of the land to form Berea College, the first integrated coeducational college in the South. Dude led an extremely interesting life and is, in my opinion, one of the most important unknown and undiscussed figures in American history."
"I'm sure most of us would have thought..."
"Welles Crowther, aka The Man In The Red Bandana. I'm sure most of us have thought about what it must have been like in the World Trade Center on 9/11 and it must have been debilitatingly petrifying. He was 24 years old working on the 104th floor as an equities trader.
Made his way down to the sky lobby of the South Tower and found a badly burned woman, carried her down 17 floors, then went back upstairs to help guide others to the only passable stairwell. Stayed up there helping others and working with the fire department until the towers collapsed. He's responsible for saving around 20 lives and died a damn hero."
"This lady lost her husband..."
GiphyThis lady lost her husband and when it was proposed she marry his murderer, she was like 'sure, send a delegation over so we can talk this out' and they came. She had them dropped in a pit and buried them alive. Then she had another party of men sent to talk about the marriage, and they came. She said, 'Hey, it was a long journey, why not come relax in this bathhouse' and they did. She set the bathhouse on fire when they were in it.
Then Olga went and sent the Drevilians another message, 'hey bring out the booze i'm coming to mourn my husband's death in your city'. She came, she mourned, she got the Drevilians drunk, and she had them killed by her followers while they were drunk off.
Olga went and got her army, laid siege to the place where her husband was killed for a year, then told them 'I'm willing to forgive and forget if you guys give me a bunch of birds' and the Drevilians did. They turned the birds into mini matches by attaching sulphur to their legs, and then released them. Set the city on fire. Freaking savage.
"Went undercover..."
Nellie Bly. Went undercover and endured abuse to cover neglect and abuse in Blackwell's asylum, went to Mexico and called out the dictator for going after the press and oppressing his people and then fled/was exiled out of Mexico because of that, traveled the world in 70-something days to prove you could travel the world in 80 days or less (based off the the Jules Verne novel) , also did reporting on the Eastern European front in World War One and also was arrested after she was mistaken for a British Spy, and she did so much more ! Such a bad ass and one of my historical heroes.
"As the war dragged on..."
Witold Pilecki, a man so badass that he voluntarily and secretly went into Auschwitz as a prisoner and spy to gather information; while there he regularly made reports on conditions and also organised resistance. As the the war dragged on and conditions became worse, he then successfully broke out of Auschwitz so that he could personally convince his superiors of the truth, as they found his reports too ghastly to be real.
"A movie about him would be called too unrealistic..."
Dude turned down his first Distinguished Combat Medal because he didn't like the general who was supposed to give it to him. All good though, he earned two more. A movie about him would be called too unrealistic if they made one.
"...and when he was corrected..."
Michael Collins. Showed up 7 minutes late to negotiations for the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1922, and when he was corrected said "You've had 700 years, I'll take my 7 minutes."
"Eventually he accompanied them..."
Janusz Korczak.
He was a military doctor during WW1, a completely committed amazing pedagogue and the headmaster of a Jewish children's home during WW2 in the Warsaw Ghetto.
He was given several chances to flee to Palestine. Instead electing to stay with the children.
Eventually he accompanied them all the way into the gas chamber, to make sure they didn't have to die alone and scared.
It's one level of bad-assery to kill for your cause.
It's a whole different level of bad-assery to walk towards certain death for several years, endure hardship and starvation. Not for some grand cause. Not even to trade your life for someone else's.
But only because you feel so much love towards your fellow man, to think it's your duty to make sure they won't have to die alone.
"I always felt..."
I always felt Jonas Salk was pretty bad-ass. The dude created the first successful polio vaccine and gave away the cure for free.
"Frank William Abagnale Jr."
By using a fake identity as an airline pilot, he successfully flew over a million miles on flights and forged company checks. Afraid of getting caught, he filled out his application at an apartment, saying his job was a doctor. He then faked a Harvard degree and became a pediatrician."
"At the office, he met a girl whom he called in love with, and lied about also being a lawyer. He left his doctor job after realizing he could kill people. He became a busboy for a local lawyer before quitting and moving to 26 other countries living off fake checks (Approximately $2.5 Million) He was eventually caught..."
"And then celebrated his 21st birthday."
"Facing time in a maximum security prison in France, he broke out and was later deported back to the US. He broke out again by posing as a cop, and after 6 total years in prison, he then worked for the FBI, but without pay."
"He has written a book, 'Catch Me If You Can,' which has spun off into a BAFTA winning movie and Tony winning musical."
nintendonerd256
"In World War II..."
"Joe Medicine Crow. The last legit Native American to earn the War Chief Title. In World War II he was a scout and wore traditional Crow Nation war paint and feathers. To become a war chief he had to touch an enemy without killing him, take an enemy's weapon, lead a successful war party, and steal an enemy's horse. He stole over 50 horses from the SS and earned a Bronze Star."
"Medicine Crow died at 102 years old. He was born with Woodrow Wilson in office and met Barack Obama before he died."
MattHoppe1
"When she finally started losing fights..."
"Chinese pirate queen Ching Shih. Led a huge pirate fleet of up to 400 ships and basically robbed and murdered whatever and whoever she wanted. Her word was law if you were on her crew any disobedience got you beheaded on the spot."
"She murdered Chinese navy, she whooped Bristish and Portugese bounty hunters. Terrorized villages killing the men and selling the women and children into slavery when their ransoms weren't paid."
"When she finally started losing fights to a technologically superior Portugese Navy she cashed out. Took her loyal bloodthirsty pirate army to the Chinese government and suggested that they pardon her and her crew of all crimes and not try to confiscate any of their loot or they were gonna do one more big bloody crime starting right here."
"She ran a brothel/gambling house into her old age and lived in luxury and power."
All of these are definitely excellent entries in the history books.
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History Buffs Reveal The Coolest People Throughout Time That No One Has Ever Heard About
There are so many fascinating people who came before us who have been all but forgotten. History curricula always seem to cover the same people and the same events, especially in the US.
Reddit user u/Jcaf8 asked:
"History lovers of Reddit, whose the coolest person in history no one has ever heard of?"