Notable People Who Died Before They Could Realize Their Full Potential
Reddit user rigorousthinker asked: 'Which person who died too early in life had the most potential?
When someone dies young, people often lament they're "gone too soon."
Death comes for us all eventually, but sometimes it's especially shocking when a person on the cusp of greatness dies—often tragically.
Reddit user rigorousthinker asked:
"Which person who died too early in life had the most potential?"
Henry Mosely
"Henry Mosely, a British physicist."
"One of the greatest physicists of the 20th century. Developed Moseley's Law that helped to define the atomic number."
"The reason why nobody has heard of him is because he [was killed by] sniper at Gallipoli when he was 27 years old."
"Isaac Asimov wrote about him: 'in view of what [Moseley] might still have accomplished ... his death might well have been the most costly single death of the War to mankind generally'."
"He's the reason why countries keep their scientists and researchers from being drafted or allowed to fight anymore."
~ Vio_
GiphyÉvariste Galois
"I'd forward Évariste Galois."
"At the cutting edge of mathematics, as a teenager solved a centuries standing open problem, and created a field of mathematics which was so complex at the time that Galois' contemporaries were stymied and overlooked it's value."
"He was killed in a duel at the age of 20."
~ butts-kapinsky
Arthur Tudor
"I'm going historical. Prince Arthur Tudor. He died aged 15, leaving his younger brother Henry to become Henry VIII of England."
"Arthur was apparently more of a scholar than anything else, compared to his brother who was more into the idea of being a warrior king."
"Had Arthur survived and gone on to become King, then global history would have taken a very different turn."
~ c0_sm0
"Many of those priceless manuscripts existed nowhere outside of England because they were written in English. Back in the ninth century, the West Saxon king Alfred the Great had established an educational system where children learned to write their native language first before learning Latin."
"The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is in English because of that. Beowulf was written down in English because of that. The Old English they spoke then is practically indecipherable now except to scholars, yet English is still the best documented secular language of the early Middle Ages."
"Only a tiny sliver of that literature survives. Mostly because Henry VIII had the rest of it burned."
~ doublestitch
GiphyThe Classics
"Amadeus Mozart.
"While he wasn't terribly young, I'd say his true potential life was cut in half. Imagine what music will never be or where it could have gone had he lived a longer life."
~ WhoFan
"35 IS terribly young. And throw Franz Schubert in this thread as well. Died at 31 and was writing some of the greatest music ever produced."
"Just for the final 2 movements of the Unfinished Symphony alone! Supposedly on his deathbed he said 'I have so much still to say'."
~ 8805
"And Chopin, too. Died age 39, was writing the greatest piano works ever."
~ BreadBoi-0
"Shout out to my boy Felix Mendelssohn, died at the age of 38. Wrote 4 amazing symphonies, the famous music for A Midsummer Night's Dream, and the greatest violin concerto in the repertoire."
"I'd give anything to see what he would have done with another 38 years."
~ Plug_5
Otis Redding
"Otis Redding."
"Based on his energy, the fact that after a short career with an amazing voice, he came back from surgery with a better one, recorded one of the great songs of the 20th century, and then immediately died."
~ TDOMW
"Otis is interesting to me. He died right before he was going to crossover to white audiences."
"What would Dock of the Bay sound like if he got to finish it and realize his vision (he had kind of a Pet Sounds vision for the full album)?"
"If he didn’t die, would soul have lost so much ground to funk in the 1970s?"
"And would Stax Records still be around and thriving, instead of closing in the mid-1970s?"
"All interesting questions."
~ ChocolateOrange21
GiphyAlan Turing
"Alan Turing—died for the worst f*cking reason and what happened to him was a travesty."
~ Far-Polaris
"Turing was prosecuted in 1952 for homosexual acts. He accepted hormone treatment with DES, a procedure commonly referred to as chemical castration, as an alternative to prison."
"Turing died on 7 June 1954, 16 days before his 42nd birthday, from cyanide poisoning. An inquest determined his death as a suicide."
~ DimesOHoolihan
"If you're unfamiliar with Turing and what he did for the world (and also the punishment he had to endure after the fact), I highly recommend watching The Imitation Game."
"It's a phenomenal movie, and Benedict Cumberbatch plays the role of Turing amazingly. It really drives home how extra terrible his death was, considering all of the good he did for the war effort."
"We likely would have lost the war (or struggled through it for a lot longer, and lost many more innocent lives) if not for him."
~ TenFoxxe
Roberto Clemente
"Roberto Clemente was going to be a great humanitarian and role model after he retired. Charity and helping the people of the Caribbean and Latin-America was really important to him and he spent almost all his free time doing charity work.
"He played 18 seasons for the Pittsburgh Pirates, 13 seasons as an All-Star, played in 15 All-Star games, 12 Gold Glove Awards."
"Clemente was the first Caribbean and first Latin-American player to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was the first for many things in his career."
"MLB was only integrated for 8 years when Clemente started playing in 1955. What Jackie Robinson did for Black players, Clemente did for Caribbean and Latin-American players. Just think of all the MLB stars he paved the way for."
"The Roberto Clemente Award is given to the player who 'best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual's contribution to his team'."
"His friends and teammates described him as a humble, kind man. He was 38 when he died in a plane crash delivering humanitarian aid to earthquake victims."
~ LakotaGrl
GiphyStevie Ray Vaughn
"Stevie Ray Vaughan."
"He really got his sh*t together and seemed to really be in a good place career wise and in his personal life."
~ 1-21_Jiggawatts
"Dude played the cleanest guitar I've ever heard. No missed notes or leaning on too much feedback or too many effects or anything."
~ loptopandbingo
Steve Irwin
"Steve Irwin—I believe his conservation work would have probably spilled over into environmental issues and he seemed passionate about doing good not just fame and money."
~ No_Character_5315
"He is my inspiration."
"I was in 6th grade when he died, and it took me some time to get here, but I currently have a degree in Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries and I'm working on a second in Forestry conservation and restoration sciences."
"I'd like to think that one day I'll be able to make the world a slightly better place even if I'll never have the impact he did."
~ redwolf1219
"I think Robert and Bindi (and recently, Terri, too!) are doing great work to reach a modern audience with social media these days. Of course, nothing will ever be like The Crocodile Hunter ever again."
"That show was a gem of its time. I still grieve Steve when I watch their content, especially when they show clips of him. But it's so cool to watch his family carry on his legacy."
~ only_1_
GiphyJeff Buckley
"Within the sphere of music, I think Jeff Buckley is unquestionably the answer."
"'Grace' is an absolute tour de force of a debut and my easy pick for best album of the 1990’s. He was an almost indescribably incredible vocalist and fantastic young songwriter who likely would have only gotten better at his craft."
"It’s such a shame he never got to finish that second album because even what we have of it contains some gems and I’m sure the finished product would have been incredible."
~ dcrico20
Buddy Holly
"Buddy Holly. Of course, he already wrote some fantastic songs, but man would it be a treat to see his songwriting in the '60s!"
"Could end up being the same or he could have grown. But it's those what-ifs!"
~ DirtlessEye
"Buddy Holly was only 22 when he died. Lennon and McCartney had not peaked by that age, so who knows where he would have gone with his music."
"Buddy would have been 30 in the summer of 1967, the Summer of Love. Maybe he’d have been out playing in a toga in Golden Gate Park with shoulder length hair and granny glasses, protesting the war in Vietnam."
"Sadly, we’ll never know."
~ AtmosphereFull2017
GiphyDouglas Adams
"Douglas Adams."
"His ability to create the most absurd possible sentences and situations and make them as funny as they are... amazing writer."
~ shapiritowastaken
"The infinite improbability drive. The hyperspace bypass. The bowl of petunias. Really knowing where your towel is."
"So much happy silliness. Might just have to dig out my copy and read it again."
~ lurkerwholeapt
Martin Luther King Jr.
"Martin Luther King Jr. People remember him as some wise old man. He was 39 when he died."
~ FredTheLynx
"Martin Luther King Jr., Anne Frank, and Barbara Walters were all born in 1929."
~ miclugo
"It's actually crazy to think MLK could have feasibly lived past the 00's, even the 10's."
"Like, can you imagine THE Martin Luther King Jr weighing in on the 2016 election as an 85-year-old man?"
"What an alternate timeline that would be."
~ thattoneman
"Or if he lived to see Obama become President."
~ Currywurst_Is_Life
GiphyThomas Sankara
"Thomas Sankara was only 37 when he was assassinated."
"He brought through huge reforms in Burkina Faso in such a short space of time."
"He increased literacy massively and improved women's rights, also brought through vaccination programs and improved infrastructure."
"None of which was popular with the French."
~ shawbawzz
Jimi Hendrix
"Jimi Hendrix hadn't even reached his full potential when he died."
"Yet he is still regarded by many to be the best guitarist of all time."
"Imagine if he had lived."
~ CoatsBoi
"The man made sounds that no one had ever heard before in the history of humanity."
~ No_Net_1590
GiphyThe Good Doctor
"My husband. He was special to me yes, but he was important to his patients. We all know about the ER docs that are dismissive, condescending, and are just all around jerks. My husband, even at his most burnt out wasn’t like that. He was the type you pray you get."
"The one that will actually listen, who will figure out what’s going on. It didn’t matter if you were female, a POC, trans, or any combination. He was listening. He was going to treat your pain. He wasn’t going to send you home until he had an answer."
"I knew this about him, but it was confirmed by the patients that left messages on his obituary page. Sure he did the usual emergency med life saving things. But a car accident is easy. There’s no argument about whether or not a patient is hurt. It’s assumed something is wrong."
~ koolchicken
It was surprising just how young some of these people were when they died.
Who else do you think was gone too soon?
Thanks to the internet and social media, it's never been easier to become famous.
Indeed, some people have used social media to such an effect, that they are as or more well known than any number of movie stars.
But others might have put something on the internet just for fun, unaware that they had a viral sensation on their hands ("Charlie bit my finger" anyone?).
Some people soak in this unexpected fame for a moment or two, and then let it pass as they go on with their lives.
Others, however, might enjoy being unexpectedly famous, and will relish in their unexpected celebrity for the rest of their lives.
No matter how small an audience their internet fame reached.
Redditor JesseB342 was eager to hear examples of when a tiny bit of internet fame resulted in an expanded ego, leading them to ask:
"What’s the smallest amount of internet fame / clout that you’ve seen go to someone’s head?'
Blink and you'll miss them.
"Friend was in a video at a car meet that went viral back say 2011-2012."
"He said like 8 words and couldn’t see him but you could hear him."
"He would go around telling people after he is 'famous' for being in a viral YouTube video."
"I was like 'if you have to announce you are famous, you might not be as famous as you think Broski'."- HoneyMussy4goodBoy
It made the movie!
"My dad's collection of vintage drinking glasses were used in 'The Mothman Prophecies'."
"His glasses made the movie much better.:
"Just ask him, he'll tell you."- cleonavarro
Anyone remember MySpace?
"I made a fairly successful MySpace type quiz once.'
'Over a million people took it. I put that on my resume.''- effieokay
Social Media Hearts GIF by Flamingo ServicesGiphy"Remember when I did that thing? No? Well, you should!"
"A guy from my hometown who was sort of a skeezeball helped some elderly folks escape a fire."
'The act itself was commendable and he deserved the recognition he received in local media and he went viral for a week or two."
'But uh….5 plus years after the fact he was still using that as a way to try to get out of tickets or being cut off at the local bars after refusing to pay tabs."
"My brother encountered his Instagram recently and his self-description says something like 'Unspoken hero, DM me for details."
"lmao.'- FartAttack911
Fame can't get you everything.
"I work for a company that books luxury travel, think $20,000 packages."
"A woman contacted us wanting a free trip in exchange for posting it on her blog, proudly proclaiming that she had 800 followers."
"My coworkers' dog photo account has more followers."- AnastasiaSheppard
Even if he's not wrong.
"That dude telling Keanu Reeves that he's breathtaking."
"He would later comment on other stuff whenever breathtaking was mentioned, as if he was the one that came up with the word and made it his thing."- Sir_MoonDoggy
Keanu Reeves Reaction GIFGiphyBig ego making up for other shortcomings?...
"The guy from TikTok dancing in that parade to 'I’m just thinking with my d*ck'.”
"He went home to Indianapolis and started doing meet and greets with people at local car dealerships lol."- jkaycola
It happens to the best of us...
"I entered a blog competition to my uni the summer before I started.'
"I won, and myself and two others were given a free laptop on the understanding we'd keep publishing blogs as 'Insiders' for the uni to use as a marketing tool."
"I put one up a week, and enjoyed it."
"They were decently entertaining and linked to on the uni website, but probably got no more than a few dozen reads."
"On my birthday a few months into the year the bouncers at a club wouldn't let me in as I appeared too drunk."
"I got into a pedantic argument with them about whether the pavement was public property or not, then shouted at them I was going to write about it in my Uni-sanctioned blog."
"I woke up hungover the next day and did not write about the incident in my uni-sanctioned blog."- Fascinatedwithfire
It's one way of putting yourself out there...
"Any amount of sound cloud rappers that get a few hundred views and a few mates gassing them up and think they've found their calling."
"Source, I have to produce them."
"Money is money tho."- EddieHxtler
urban hip hop GIFGiphyBad sportsmanship will never pay off...
"Back in the day when I played Wow there was a guy on my server who had a tiny amount of name recognition."
"He was good at the game and spent a lot of time and energy organizing things."
"People on the server knew him and would ask for his help, or show him deference in order to get his attention on things."
"One day he put together an optional raid and at the end of the raid a particularly rare item dropped."
"Instead of an open roll - which was the standard at the time - he simply gave the item to his friend."
'When people complained, he said something like, 'I'm so and so, I'm the most important raid leader on this server, you're all lucky to even be here right now, so shut up and deal with it'."
'Well screenshots were taken and links were sent around."
"Dude ended up transferring off the server less than a week later because nobody would give him the time of day."- shaidyn
Blatant breach of contract!
"I was working on a movie set a few years ago, and we had a few hundred extras, and I saw a lot of them, taking selfies, of a room, and posting that they were in a movie."
"Again, extra's, you rarely see a face."
"But part of this and what we make them sign is a paper stating that when they are on set they can not take pictures of any kind and if they do their phone will be wiped, as we of course do not want anything getting out."
" Well we caught 2 people doing it, removed them from the set, wiped their phone so they had an old 'new' phone."
"Now that was fun."
"Read what you sign people."- VivaLasVegasGuy
We Get It!!!
"My friend's minecraft meme template was used for about a month and a half on r/minecraftmemes, and he wouldnt shut up about it."- WolfReadsMemes·
Surprise Microsoft GIF by MinecraftGiphyAre there at least free doughnuts?
"The kid from my neighborhood is the Krispy Kream kid from Tosh.0."- ClenchedFart
Too famous for his own parents!
"That guy on Dr Phil who said he doesn’t speak to his own mother anymore because 'she’s not relevant' and 'won’t make him anymore famous',"
"The crowd boos him, only for him to claim 'maybe they’re irrelevant too'."
"While completely awful, it may have been slightly more understandable from someone Uber-famous."
"Thing is, nobody has ever heard of this kid."
"His identity is a complete mystery, but he claims it’s important enough that he doesn’t speak to his own mum."- joe282
Father knows best...
"My father (44 M[ale]) at the time, started a small YouTube to promote/share his hobbies with the world."
"Through making friends and connections his YouTube grew to a small following around 200 subscribers."
"He did a giveaway and all, and started to talk of meet and greets and meeting his 'fans'."
"This lasted no longer than a year."- chikenluver84
Proud Schitts Creek GIF by CBCGiphyYou liked me! You really liked me!
"One guy in my high school became the most selfish, arrogant and disrespectful person after he got 1.3k likes on a video."- entomology_fr3ak
Careful the things you boast about...
"I saw a person in a Facebook group comment on someone else’s post and brag that Ben Shapiro retweeted him."
"The opposite of clout."
"The group immediately kicked him out and started making memes about the guy."- ceweston
Fame can't be bought...
"14 Followers."
"Even though following over 250 herself."
"You could instantly see 25% of them were for sure bots."
"Wanted a free 3 course meal."
" Wine and all for 3 people, at first for free."
"Said the new guest who be swarming would easily make up for it."
"Boss ended up her allowing a 3 course meal, with a very large discount, just breaking even, with her and 2 others."
"Day and time arrives, and in walks a group of 8 people, all 'Important VIP' who decided to join."
"I've never seen such stuck up kids."
"In they end, boss gave them a finger, they wanted the whole hand."
"So they got a different finger instead."
"Out of curiosity while she was bickering, I ended up talking to 2 of the attachments."
"They said 'she asked us out for dinner here, said all expense paid on anything we wanted."
"Like she had something to celebrate."
"Except for one guy, no one was following her on instagram."- NotAPotatoCube
Mariah Carey Sunglasses GIFGiphyBribery only gets you so far
"I knew a guy, a real jacka**, who ran the biggest professional wrestling server on Discord."
"How did he accomplish this?"
He paid someone on Fiverr 20 bucks to fill the server with hundreds of bots."
"The percentage of real people in the server was probably 20% or less."- ChonkyBeagle
We all like being recognized for an accomplishment.
But rather than let fame get to our heads, it's important to use that fame for good.
Particularly if you can reach as many as 100 followers to make a difference.
For the life of me, I can't understand how anyone could still watch The Walking Dead. I just checked and the damn thing has had 11 seasons. 11 seasons!
Can you imagine?
People enjoy watching characters follow a set of train tracks for an entire season I guess. (For context, I made it to the beginning of the seventh season before I threw in the towel, and it was really testing my patience well before then.)
But there's so much more out there that's equally overrated. Television is the least of our problems.
People shared their thoughts with us after Redditor PieinHorse asked the online community:
"What is very overrated?"
"The perceived security..."
"The perceived security of most jobs."
chickenkottu
Replace jobs with locks or doors or windows and it's still true.
"Influencers."
"Influencers. I'm not sure what's more ridiculous, the fact someone believes they are an "influencer" or those who actually follow them and are influenced by said influencer."
aussie_shane
I scarcely think about them. Out of sight, out of mind.
"After owning..."
"Designer brands and bags. After owning an item from each brand, it’s really the most big waste of money people can put their money on."
ian6677
You do get what you pay for up to a certain point.
"The extra leg room..."
"First Class Airline tickets!"
"We lucked up on our last flight that we had no choice but to get first class and our company paid for it, but I can 100% say that it was NOT worth the extra $700."
"The extra leg room was nice, as I'm 6'7", but the "free cocktails" and additional food? Nah homie, I'm good."
ecallowsamoht
Was this domestic? For those short flights First Class is pretty much not worth it, but for international long haul? A lie-down bed for a 13 hour flight is worth the 2x or more price, plus the other perks.
"I prefer..."
"Casual sex. I prefer competitive sex."
[deleted]
Evolutionarily speaking, life is about competitive sex...
"Being famous..."
"Being famous must suck big time. Imagine not being able to go shopping, taking a chill walk in the park, go to the beach, supermartket, etc... without people engaging with you."
Pcostix
Say goodbye to any privacy whatsoever. No thank you.
"Spent my prime years..."
"Alcohol. Spent my prime years drinking at college and all that, still say it’s the most overrated thing in history. So many better drugs that could have prevented long and short term health issues, made things more peaceful, more efficient, more successful, and so on. The fact that it’s globally advertised every millisecond proves it’s overrated."
DFHartzell
There's nothing wrong with deciding to stop drinking (or never drinking at all) and people should not be shamed for it.
"Why?"
"Huge weddings. Why? Spend the money on something important or on a trip."
Ginger_Chick
Some people want their best day ever to be a big party with all the people they care about. But there is a crazy level of stress involved in planning a party that size.
"Being an adult."
"Being an adult. What BS is this, and why the hell did we want to be adults when we were kids?"
imunclebubba
Nah, being an adult is awesome. I wouldn't change it for the world. Freedom!
"Half of the time."
"Hot weather. Half of the time it is just horrible and you’re sweating in your clothes and the other half you’re at the beach burning alive."
patrickgall
Sorry, I'd rather it be hot than be freezing, but I'm one of those people who can never get warm.
Hey, it could be worse. We could be talking about how much Game of Thrones disappointed us (again) and how it is impossible to watch it now, a total slog, knowing where it ends up. Disappointing and overrated indeed.
Have some suggestions of your own? Tell us more in the comments below!
People Debate Which Famous Historical Figures Would Be Surprised To Learn About Their Fame
Fame is one of those things people tend to want until they have it - or that people shy away from entirely because they understand how sideways it tends to go.
But what about people who end up famous after their deaths? Or who managed to get more famous from the afterlife?
Reddit user GCanuck asked:
"Which historically famous person do you think would be most surprised to learn they are famous?"
If your mind immediately went to that Vincent Van Gogh scene from Dr. Who then 1. you're a nerd (me too!) and 2. you're not alone.
Here's what Reddit had to say.
The Little Painter Fellow
Van Gogh Reaction GIF by GIF IT UPGiphy"Vincent van Gogh."
"His paintings made billions of dollars for rich people, but couldn't trade a painting for a meal during his lifetime. Had to be supported by his brother."
- strangedigital
"It’s amazing how many pieces he created in such a short time considering how unsuccessful he was in selling them while alive. He kept banging them out despite his 'failure'.”
- Fthewigg
"He was encouraged to paint as part of his therapy/rehabilitation. He was a pretty disturbed guy, and not in a romantic way."
- redkat85
"Have you ever seen the Doctor Who episode about him?"
- LucyVialli
"This is what actually prompted this question for me."
- GCanuck
A Diary
"Anne Frank"
- 222sick
"Most of the world has read your diary."
"Wait...All of my diary?"
- SuperstitiousPigeon5
"Her Father censored some of it because she talks about her body and other things, I can't really blame him for that. Modern prints are uncensored."
- zerbey
"She’d have been thrilled, but I don’t think surprised is the right word. She dreamed of being a published author. She knew that she was creating something valuable and important with her diary, and she wanted it to be published."
- shhhhquiet
"I wonder what she'd think of her diary being turned into a stage play including a Broadway run and thousands of young girls doing their best to recreate all the different facets both good and bad of how she acted during her time in the Annex."
- Lil_Jazzy
Herman The Whale
bart simpson episode 3 GIFGiphy"Herman Melville."
"He had a few early successes with seafaring books, but Moby-Dick was a total flop that got bad reviews, and he spent the final decades of his life working in the customs department."
"He would be shocked to hear he wrote the Great American Novel."
- centaurquestions
"My boyfriend is from New Bedford, MA. Apparently the local high schools there had big murals depicting scenes from Moby Dick." "
*That* would have amazed Melville."
- DoctorWatchamacallit
"Dude, that's the best part. You never know what's coming next. It's like:"
"45 pages of unintentionally hilarious interactions between Ishmael and Queequeg."
"30 pages of incredible, brooding drama written in stage play format for some reason."
"100 page essay about some minor technical details about whaling and how some village built their chieftain's hall out of a whale's ribcage."
"Another 20 pages of Ahab chewing the scenery and embodying mankind's self-destructive obsessions"
"Then Queequeg speaking his last words but then deciding he doesn't want to die yet and miraculously springing back to life."
"Like the ocean itself, you have to accept that Moby Dick moves at its own pace lol"
- jesushitlerchrist
We, In Fact, Did Not Forget
"Hegelochus, an actor who mispronounced a word in a play in the year 408 BC and was mocked so thoroughly for it, his mistake has made it into the collective ledger of things historians know about and generally agree upon having happened… and we're still aware of it over 2,400 years later."
"Imagine making a meme today with a word misspelled, and others found that misspelling so egregiously mockable that you are still known for it in the year 4422."
- film_composer
" 'Oh come on get over it. No one will remember about that by tomorrow' -Hehelochus’ mom probably"
- Kehl21
"He must have went to sleep running the moment in his head over and over again, but he probably tried to comfort himself by thinking, 'well, at least it's not like some space-age hyper-futuristic society is going to be discussing this thousands of years from now on their magic boxes powered by lightning in some language that doesn't even exist yet'."
- film_composer
"This is the worst nightmare of everyone that has been told to stop worrying because no one will pay as much attention to what you're doing as you."
"Counter point: Hegelochus."
- LectureAfter8638
Kafkaesque
"Kafka. Rarely published in his lifetime, and when he did it was in obscure magazines which nobody read."
"Explicitly asked that his works be destroyed after his death. It's only because his executor disregarded his wishes and published his unfinished works (which comprise the majority of his oeuvre) that he is famous today."
- IllustriousSquirrel9
"Kafka is a good example of how much can anxiety ruin a person's life"
- Sergey32321
"Kafka wrote his stories to be shared with a group of friends like story-telling at a campfire"
- Responsible_Put_2960
Gospel Legend
"Blind Willie Johnson."
"He passed away blind, poor and sick, lying in the ruins of his house after it was burnt down."
"And his song 'Dark was the Night, Cold was the Ground' left our solar system not too long ago aboard the Voyager to be listened to by life among the stars."
- dntExit
"I really like to think one day-thousands and thousands of years in the future, an alien race will find that golden disk and hear his voice."
"I think the fact he had such a poor life but could one day live eternally amongst the stars is so beautiful."
- gonzomullz
"Found out about him through a VSauce video."
"I listened to a couple songs and really liked them, he had a great voice and had a great talent for playing guitar despite being blind. Such a humbling and inspiring story he had"
- HRPr03
"I remember learning about this in a Vsauce video and crying profusely afterwards, but not only from sadness, also from hope, and some other emotions I can’t possibly describe."
"The fact that he died at the lowest of lows, blind, sick, poor, and alone, yet he very well could be the man that teaches the stars about the very essence of humanity… there’s just something so intrinsically beautiful about that."
"Humanity, flawed as it is, is as intrinsically kind and beautiful as it is evil. The world forgets that sometimes."
- cmoneybouncehouse
Other Madonna
mona lisa oh no you didnt GIFGiphy"Lisa Gherardini, the Mona Lisa model."
"She was just some unremarkable random wife. Fast forward a few hundred years and she ended up as one of the most recognizable faces in history."
- finsareluminous
"HER NAMES NOT EVEN MONA LISA?!"
- Jaded-Associate6891
" 'Monna' was a shortening of the Italian word 'madonna', which was the equivalent of the English 'Madam'."
- Koifish_Coyote
Honor Well Pass Death
"Glyndwr Michael"
"This is the dead body they used in Operation Mincemeat."
"The man basically consumed rat poison to commit suicide."
"His corpse was then used for a British secret operation to carry fake documents for the Nazis to find in order to make them think they were invading Greece and not Sicily."
"This man died in a alleyway and went on the become a dedicated Major in the British military buried with full military rites - under his fake name, but still him in physical form."
- TheBabyLeg123
"He was originally buried under his covert identity (in Spain where his body washed ashore after being deposited in the sea nearby by a Royal Navy submarine), Major William Martin of the Royal Marines."
"In 2009 or thereabouts his real name (Glyndwr Michael) was added to his gravestone."
- BravoBanter
"I thought he died of tuberculosis so it’d be more convincing he was a British serviceman who drowned? Or maybe that was the guy used to make the Nazis think the Allies were invading Calais instead of Normandy."
- UnconstrictedEmu
"It was rat poison but it's not clear if it was a suicide."
"The poison was in the form of a paste that would be smeared on pieces of bread; rodents eat the bread, rodents die. Or in this case; poor Welshman eats the bread, poor Welshman dies."
"It's not clear whether he knew the paste was poison, or whether he was just hungry and thought he genuinely found some bread lying around."
"Where the confusion comes in is that the guy in charge of Mincemeat claimed the body was that of a young man who died of pneumonia, and that the parents had given permission for his body to be used as it was."
- ConstableBlimeyChips
A Real Hero
"Henrietta Lacks"
- LucyVialli
"A literal hero of humanity who in some ways is still alive."
"Her family deserved so much better though."
- AzureBluet
"Can I get a short version? I don't think I've heard of her before"
- Fyrrys
"Her contribution to science is and continues to be gigantic"
- Available-Age2884
Laws Of Inheritance
"Gregor Mendel, the monk and scientist who experimented with pea plant traits to describe what we today literally call Mendelian inheritance."
"The significance of Mendel's findings, which he published in 1866, went almost completely unrecognized during his life and after his death. His work was only rediscovered in the early 1900s when modern ideas about inheritance and selection started taking hold."
- ThadisJones
"I can differ there. When he first stated his theory, he was sure it was correct (as it was) but was rejected. I can imagine him not being surprised at the fact that his work was re recognised as right later down the line"
- Brother_Not_Shook
"It's entirely possible you're correct and Mendel suspected that someday he'd be proved right. At the same time, however, he spent decades after his discovery trying and failing to elicit interest from the academic public or individual biologists, and retired from science to become a monastery administrator, which looks a lot like 'giving up'."
- ThadisJones
Okay, so we learned some interesting history today. How about you?
Are you related to anybody famous? Where do they stand in your family?
The reality is, we are all probably related in some way or another to some famous figure at some point in history—the size of the human population was a lot smaller back then.
But how about now?
Does anybody whose name crosses the news on a regular or semi-regular basis come to your holiday table?
Redditor LoveSimpleHacks asked:
"Who is the most famous person in your family?"
Here were some of those answers.
Barney And Betty
"My grandmother was the voice of Betty Rubble... And the blue bonnet chicken in Foghorn Leghorn, and little red riding hood on Bugs Bunny (and witcheepoo), and Tweety's grandma (along with other women who voiced her.)"
"And she was on I Love Lucy, and she had her own show called Petticoat Junction, and she was on Burns & Allen.. and.. so... so.. so many more. Oh, and my grandfather was Red Ryder on TV." - Chalky_Cupcake
Crew Crew
"My grandad is a double Olympic bronze medalist for rowing, he has them displayed in a cabinet in his house."
"He’s also one of the most humble and down to earth people I’ve ever met. Never brags or boasts about it, and never brings it up in conversations as a form of one-upping someone."
"If he does talk about it it’s because someone found out by some other means and has asked him about it." - The_Extreme_Potato
You Mean Reality TV Isn't Real?!
"Well I will have you all know my mom has not only been a guest on the Ricki Lake show and the Queen Latifa Show, but the Sally Jessy Raphael show as well!"
"The last one is the only one we have been able to find video evidence of. My mom is a full on attention-seeker and early 2000’s daytime TV was her stage."
"She was also on a couple of 'court' shows but … those storylines were for sure fake. She just wanted a free trip." - sadmotelvibes
These are the people that represent us and our family on the world stage.
Rutherford? I Hardly Know 'Er Ford!
"My great-great Uncle, Ernest Rutherford. The father of Nuclear Physics!"
"My granny has fond memories of him, and it was a buzz to visit the Nobel Prize Museum and see him honoured there. I can attest that the propensity to be good at physics is not passed on, I was horrendous." - petanotpeter
Its Fleece As White As Snow
"George Ellery Hale. His father owned the Hale Elevator Co, who provided the elevators for Chicago's new skyscrapers after the Chicago fire."
"George was a solar astronomer who made discoveries concerning magnetic fields and sunspots. Some of his most famous work, however, was getting 4 observatories built, including Mount Wilson where Hubble made his discoveries of the expanding universe."
"He got multiple world leading telescopes built. Is considered a founder of astrophysics. Cofounded the Journal of Astrophysics. Received numerous awards for his scientific research and achievements."
"I may be related to Sarah Josepha Hale, who wrote 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' and was instrumental in getting Abraham Lincoln to make Thanksgiving a federal holiday, but I'm still researching that one." - ProbablyABore
Google Docs - create and edit documents online, for free.
Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.Is There A Doctor In The House?
"Not famous in the traditional sense, but I have 4 uncles in my family who are world renowned physicians. One has a patent that is used worldwide in cardiac surgery."
"Another just won India's second most prestigious award for citizens' distinguished service from the President of India himself."
"Another is retired but used to be the personal physician to the Royal House of Bhutan. The last is one of the top orthopedic surgeons in the world. Pretty astounding achievements in their fields." - dhalsim282
Another Pandemic, Another Time
"My grandmother was a nurse during the 1918 flu. A large farm family was stricken with the virus so she stayed on the farm and nursed them all back to health."
"The mother was pregnant and when the baby was born, my grandmother returned to care for mom and baby. My grandfather was a close relative of the farmer and worked as a hired hand."
"The baby was the father of singer Christopher Cross." - DamnDame
The world is a lot smaller than we give it credit for, so in doing a true family tree trace, you could find one of these surprising figures in your family.
Politicians
"My grandma was a very popular governmental figure and since finishing her term, nobody has really been noteworthy in the same position, the job pretty much never gets mentioned."
"I know I'm biased of course, but I keep up with it and there's nearly no news. No outreach. Nothing. Mostly disappointments. People not doing anything with the job."
"Most of her 'fanbase' are pretty old now. But she used to get stopped every time we went out, it was a huge pain as a kid." - ladyalot
Saving The Family
"Both of my paternal great grandmothers walked The Trail of Tears. Both lost their entire families during the walk due to exposure."
"One quickly became a Robin Hood of sorts by stealing things from drunken passed out soldiers at night, then passing out what she could."
"Both of them were the best of friends, married (one married a Frenchmen, the other a Swiss farmer) and had children. One of each of their children married and they were my grandparents. My dad is 92 come March. (I’m 35. Second mid life crisis😅)" - Professor_Quackers
I Know Your Face
"My aunt is not famous, but she's been an actress her whole life and has been lucky enough to get some small parts here and there."
"She was in a movie with Matt Damon, she was recently in a TV show with Alec Baldwin, and she knows a ton of other celebrities".
"She was in House of Cards, Daredevil, etc. But, yeah, she is definitely not famous and she is just scraping by to pay the bills despite doing better than the average actress." - gman4734
So even though someone in your family might not make the newspapers on a daily basis in 2021, they are still an important part of history.
Be sure to give credit where credit is due.
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