People love a great story. Whether it be the odyssey of an underdog or the tale of someone who defied all odds, the proverbial badass has won the hearts of millions throughout history. Despite the adoration they often receive, many amazing stories end up flying under the radar, so let's take a look at some of the unsung heroes of history and give them the respect they deserve.
Have you ever had Polio? The answer is probably not. I mean, most people have never even heard of Polio, despite the fact that it was one of the most devastating diseases in the 20th century. What happened to Polio? The man pictured above, Dr. Jonas Salk, kicked Polio right in its goddamn teeth, that's what happened to it! After developing the vaccine for it, Dr. Salk held in his hands the power to save millions of lives.
However, he also held in his hands the potential to earn a heck of a lot of money! By patenting the vaccine, Salk could have undergone a process by which every company or hospital would have to pay him for every use of it. Salk however, decided not to patent the vaccine so that it wold be affordable and available to millions across the globe.
While a noble decision, according to Forbes, Salk could have made 7 billion dollars if he patented the vaccine! That's right. In a world where corporations and millionaires are willing to fight and ruin people's lives over a few dollars, Dr. Salk forfeited billions of dollars to ensure that the world would be a better and healthier place.
Not bad ass enough for you? In an interview that occurred after Salk made this decision, when asked about who owned the vaccine, he famously responded:
5. Dashrath Manjhi Breaks Down A Mountain Single-Handedly To Save Lives
Meet Dashrath Majhi. Born to a poor family in Bahir, India, Dashrath became famously known as the "Mountain Man" after carving a path in a mountain near his village. Why on earth would someone spend their entire life carving a freaking mountain? Well, it all starts with a tragic story involving his wife.
In 1967, Dashrath's wife was severely injured and needed immediate medical attention. Unfortunately, a direct path to the nearest hospital was blocked by the massive mountain, forcing him to circumvent it on a dangerous and long journey (a total of 70 km). His wife died because he couldn't get there in time. To solve this problem for his village in the future, Dashrath decided to carve a path into the mountain that took turned the 70 km trip into just a 1 km journey! Today, it looks like this:
And yes, he did that with his bare hands! After working day and night for 22 years, and initially being called "a lunatic" by his fellow villagers, Mr. Manjhi completed the seemingly cartoon act of carving a mountain! So while Majhi is carving through literal mountains, you can continue to enjoy your mountain of Cheetos as you will undoubtably carve through that before the end of this page.
4. Dr. Jonas Salk Turns Down Billions of Dollars for the Good of Humanity
Have you ever had Polio? The answer is probably not. I mean, most people have never even heard of Polio, despite the fact that it was one of the most devastating diseases in the 20th century. What happened to Polio? The man pictured above, Dr. Jonas Salk, kicked Polio right in its goddamn teeth, that's what happened to it! After developing the vaccine for it, Dr. Salk held in his hands the power to save millions of lives.
However, he also held in his hands the potential to earn a heck of a lot of money! By patenting the vaccine, Salk could have undergone a process by which every company or hospital would have to pay him for every use of it. Salk however, decided not to patent the vaccine so that it wold be affordable and available to millions across the globe.
While a noble decision, according to Forbes, Salk could have made 7 billion dollars if he patented the vaccine! That's right. In a world where corporations and millionaires are willing to fight and ruin people's lives over a few dollars, Dr. Salk forfeited billions of dollars to ensure that the world would be a better and healthier place.
Not bad ass enough for you? In an interview that occurred after Salk made this decision, when asked about who owned the vaccine, he famously responded:
3. Nikola Tesla: Inventor of Basically Everything
While Tesla does certainly have his own little cult following, your average Joe has probably never heard of him…which is a shame considering that he is basically the founding father of modern electricity and electronics!
Behold your eyes to a list of some of Tesla's most noticeable accomplishments:
- The design of the Alternating current (AC), which greatly improved efficiency of electricity (and is used in all households today)
- Fluorescent Bulbs made possible with the help of the famous Tesla Coil
- Electric Motor (which gave birth to the idea of electric cars and Tesla Motors)
- Contributed to the Design of the radio
- Invented the Laser
- Invented the Remote Control
- Contributed greatly to the development of Wireless Communication (which paved the way for cell phones, Wifi, you know, the important stuff in the world!)
- Tons of other small contributions, patents and inventions (a total of 700)
So, uh, what hasn't this guy done? Oh, and a quick and interesting side note: You'll notice that a lot of this stuff has to do with electricity, so it is only fitting that Tesla was actually born during a lightning storm!
2. Leonidas and His Soldiers
In the midst of a war between two of the largest empires in the world at the time, Greece and Persia, one battle that stands out is the legendary Battle of Thermopylae (which the movie 300 is "based" on - Hollywood doesn't care much for historical accuracy).
Leonidas was a Spartan general and his job was to take 300 of his best soldiers to meet the Persian king, Xerxes, at Thermopylae. Along with other Greeks, Leonidas' defences totalled about 4000 men. In a bit of a surprise, Xerxes came to Thermopylae with a whopping 200 000 men! The Greeks were outnumbered 50 to 1! While this was an obvious loss, Leonidas knew he had to hold off the Persians so that the Greeks could defend their state. What ensued was something straight out of a Hollywood movie: Leonidas told all of the Greek soldiers (almost 4000) to retreat and defend Greece. His plan was to take his 300 Spartan soldiers and fight the Persians by themselves in hopes of holding them off.
Many of the Greek fighters, mostly slaves, refused to leave and decided to stay with the unit of 300 and fight to the death - in a battle that was basically suicide. Leonidas was basically saving the other Greek soldiers for future battles. He himself however, could not leave as it was an unwritten rule in Sparta that said that no Spartan could ever leave a battlefield.
All of Leonidas' men, including Leonidas, were killed except for like, one or two dudes (who surrendered). While they obviously lost, this courageous act held off the Persians long enough to allow Greece to secure the state. Greece would eventually win the war and establish their dominance over the world - and it was in part, thanks to the bold actions of one crazy motherfucker named Leonidas.
1. A Bunch of Unknown People Who Did Weird Things that Changed the World
Who was the wise guy that first looked at a cow's utters and thought, "jeez, I wonder what would happen if I squeezed those dangly things…and then drank the thick white fluid that came out?" And then he actually did it!
Who was the first smart ass to take this newfound discovery called milk, let it rot, solidify, grow mold and then decide to eat it anyways! Whoever it was, we have this person to thank for cheese!
Who was the first brave person to take the white, oval objects ejected from a chicken's asshole and decide that these would taste really good in a sandwich?
It turns out there are a ton of "firsts" in history that have changed our lives forever from the first person to start a fire to the first person to grow crops in their yard. Seeing as we'll never know just who did it, I think all of these fine people, collectively, come together to make the most underrated hero(s) of all time!
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