Elementary school teachers are liars! Or, at least, they omit the truth.
When we were young, we learned about historical figures such as explorers, inventors, politicians, artists, and more who were touted as great people.
However, if we look past their great discoveries or triumphs, the people are not all that great. Christopher Columbus is a prime example.
Some people, like the late, great Steve Irwin, indisputably earned the title of good guys. But as we all know thanks to people like Coco Chanel or Bill Cosby, those who paint themselves as good guys are actually bad guys.
Curious to find out more, Redditor CongressPotatoKenobi asked:
"Which one of histories ‘good guys’ was actually a horrible person?"
The Pitfalls Of Jealousy
"Tinkerbell. Everybody thinks she was so cute and such a good friend to Peter, but she was a jealous psychopath and tried to murder Wendy several times."
– Wishyouamerry
"But in the books Peter Pan is also basically a psychopath. There are multiple references to the Lost Boys being worried he'd kill them."
"One of the main points of the book is that children don't know right from wrong unless they have parents to teach them."
– Xypharan
"Just watched Peter Pan (the cartoon) the other day, and yeah she was a psycho. I would love to see Aubrey Plaza play her in the inevitable live action remake cause damn, Tink was cold blooded."
– ILeftMyBurnerOn
The Great Inventors Of Yore
"Alexander Graham Bell!"
"This man did not invent the telephone. Several people were working on similar technology at the same time. Antonio Meucci invented it first, but there was a court case over who got the patent rights. Meucci died before the case was settled, and Graham Bell won the glory he didn't deserve."
– Im_Bill_Pardy
"Alexander Graham Bell was also a eugenicist who sought to end sign language in schools and wanted to ban deaf people from marrying each other. He was a staunch Oralist and the repercussions of his actions are still being felt in society today through such Audist institutions like the Bell Institute."
– Gilsworth
"Thomas Edison. Biggest monopolist ever and took credit for other people's work. He didn't invent the lightbulb but bought the rights and advanced it. He monopolized the film-projector + most films at the time and it took a very long lawsuit to get that fixed. He took many creations from his employees and put his name on it. This wasn't illegal because of the contracts employees signed at the time but it's not exactly a sign of goodwill. I don't hate the guy but his character is often completely exaggerated."
– Deleted User
"Thomas Edison and Henry Ford’s winter homes are in my city. As soon as students are in 3rd grade, all the schools would bring us to their homes, and really try to make you believe both of them were good people."
– floridas_lostboy
The Great Inventors Of Now
"Steve Jobs was a bit of an ass"
– RetroEnthusiasm
"Bit was an understatement. The guy was a massive credit hog, abused his employees and normalized a lot of sh*t business practices that are now used by several other companies."
– KingOfCook
" Elon musk"
"he generally treats his employees like sh*t, overworking them and making them work in unsafe conditions"
– Noist_Mugget
"He recently cut wages of all his workers after tesla stock went up"
– Deleted User
"There are higher injuries and safety violations in his factories compared to other car manufacturers, and there are emails about disregarding safety protocols in order to push more production."
"Workers could lose limbs, be permanently injured or die."
– B3taWats0n
Those Writers Though
"Rudyard Kipling, author of 'the jungle book.' Paraphrasing, "the only way to keep the yellow man out is to bring the white man in.""
– GelicateDenius
"Also got his son killed by using his influence to get him into the army despite his sons piss poor eyesight. Bit of a d*ck move if you ask me."
– InspectorGoole
"Dr. Seuss was a total POS who cheated on his first wife with her friend, His first wife, Helen, had Guillain-Barré syndrome, and knowledge of her husband's affair drove her to eventual suicide. He then remarried her friend."
"Her suicide note; “I am too old and enmeshed in everything you do and are, that I cannot conceive of life without you,” read her suicide note. “My going will leave quite a rumor, but you can say I was overworked and overwrought. Your reputation with your friends and fans will not be harmed.”"
"also, this does not make him terrible, but he had an "adult" nudie book called the seven lady godivas. It's weird yall."
– Apatheticforcredit
"HP Lovecraft. Maybe not one of the "Good Guys," because he didn't pioneer any social movements or anything like that, but he's one of the most influential writers of the 20th century."
"He was also insanely racists. And not just your typical "white man from 1920s America" racist, but passionately, unapologetically racist. The kind of racist that made other racist 1920s American white guys say "Dude, chill out with the racism.""
– Goliath89
The Music Sounds Different Now
"In some aspects to the 60’s and 70’s when the Beatles were icons, (I’m talking about John Lennon) people who use his image and face for “peace” sometimes forget important details."
"-He abused women"
"-He was a cheater"
"-Total hypocrite on the “no possessions” when he lived one of the most lavish lifestyles of his time"
"-compulsive liar"
"-almost killed a few people (look up Bob Wooler, he was almost punched to death by John. There were others but their stories have either been disputed or unclaimed.)"
"So whenever I see a bunch of people sing imagine I just shake my head in shame cause so many people don’t even know how bad he was but act like he was a saint."
– Chefshipwreck5897
"Elvis Presley. He never wrote a song in his life, but his record label made any song writers hand over half of their writing fees, before Elvis would record their songs. He's credited as a co-writer on the majority of his songs."
– Biker27
Talks Too Much
"Ellen"
– rlyllsn
"You can see it in her TV persona. Basically, all those little off-handed put downs she does that pass for jokes are the real Ellen. She doesn't seem to be trying to make them funny either. People just take it that way because it is Ellen."
"She is the kind of person that is always talking shi=*t about everybody else and if she gets called out of in, "It was just a joke". But you know it really wasn't."
– olderaccount
Those Political Leaders
"Gandhi was a racist, sexist and actively encourage Casteism in India. The inspiring story you hear about his protest in South Africa is a myth."
– paradoxperumal
"Thomas Jefferson was all kinds of hypocritical. On one hand he claimed slavery was bad, and on the other kept over 200 slaves."
– Notmiefault
"JFK"
"Getting shot and being handsome allowed people to overlook the Bay of Pigs, his womanizing and mafia connections as well as his numerous destructive political policies."
– NotwiththeCIA
Should've Known
"Mother Teresa."
– W_I_Water
"An old co worker worked with her. She was a former nun who said mother Teresa was ruthless and cruel to all of the nuns who worked alongside her."
– OnemoreSavBlanc
"She believed in salvation through suffering so her aims were not to heal people but to "park" them and let them suffer without painkillers before dying."
"Also she used her celebrity to amass charity money and use it to other goals like missionary work and line the pockets of the Vatican."
– inckalt
"As well as having her nuns baptise those of different faiths without their knowledge or consent. They would ask the patients if they wanted to be saved (paraphrasing), and without any further details being asked, her nuns would baptise them on their death beds."
– comrade_batman
Absolutely Evil
"I’m not seeing John Muir in here. Yes, the Father of the National parks made absolute certain indigenous people were NOT included in any of this process as he wiped them out and they’re practices. Yosemite would most likely be much more lush and fertile had he let the native people take care of it."
– yes_dinner
Saving The Wrong Person
"John Smith from Pocahontas, that motherf*cker deserves to rot"
– Agent-Orange666
"Saw a good art about 'What if Pocahontas was a dude'"
"It ends with him shooting Pocahontas in their first meeting."
– Deleted User
Even The Scientists Aren't All Good
"Issac newton, while arguably the greatest physicist ever, was a pretty big POS."
"He was very closed-minded and didn't like criticism. After quickly becoming famous for his incredible works, he frequently abused his powers to bury works intended to contradict his own."
– lawrence1998
My, How Despressing
"A shorter list would be "Which of history's good guys were truly good guys and not later found out to be complete a$holes.""
– Sngglbnny
Is anyone a good guy?
Do you have anyone you'd add to this list? Let us know in the comments below.
