Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

The Most Overrated People In All Of History

A picture of Mount Rushmore
Photo by Ronda Darby on Unsplash
Make us preferred on Google

History is riddled with people who don't deserve the notoriety we bestow upon them.

We've been led to believe things about people that just aren't true.

That's why we can't trust everything we read.

So much of history's "biography" is fashioned by what people only want you to know.

So let's get to some hard truths.

Humans can really suck.

Even the ones we revere.


Redditor reversechinlock wanted to have a discussion about the people we may be holding in too high a regard. So they asked everyone:

"Who is the most overrated person in history?"

I'd say most musicians are a good group to start with.

Where is He?

wheres waldo 90s GIFGiphy

"Waldo. Why should anyone even care to search for him, he's done nothing. The fact that he's always hiding is probably because he's done something wrong. Plus that f**ker only has one shirt."

TwistedBlister

Bad Guy

"Henry Ford. In business, engineering, and manufacturing, he’s revered like a god. Professors like to gloss over his overwhelming anti-semitism. Ford wrote and published a wildly anti-Semitic newspaper, which were spread around the Ford Motors facilities. Those papers were republished in Germany and became incredibly popular with the Third Reich."

"Heinrich Himmler described Ford as 'one of our most valuable, important, and witty fighters.' Hitler praised Ford in Mein Kampf and referred to Ford as an 'inspiration.' The admiration went both ways, because Ford was a Nazi sympathizer to the highest degree, hosting Hitler’s representatives in his home and hobnobbing with Nazi officers."

"On his 75th birdthday, he was awarded the Grand Cross of the German Eagle, the highest medal Nazi Germany could bestow on an American. But all anyone cares about are his f-ing assembly lines which he didn’t even invent. The assembly line idea actually came from Ransom E. Olds."

ContraltofDanger

Obsession

"Douglas Macarthur. Was obsessed with his legacy while being a far less capable leader than many of the other overlooked commanders in the Pacific theater. He spent thousands of lives in battles on islands that had little strategic significance, declared the battle for the Philippines over while intense fighting raged on, and was disliked by many serving under him. Go listen to/read Max Hastings' 'Retribution: The Battle for Japan' for a great deep dive into the Pacific War."

fushiao

Evil Empress

"Coco Chanel- I have recently found out she was apparently a Nazi agent who went under the code name 'Westminster'. She spent most of WW2 in Paris in the Ritz sleeping with Nazi officers and had direct contact to Himmler and Goebbels. She even insisted all Jewish directors of her brand be removed."

peachy-tree

Greedy

Streaming Live Music GIF by XinanimodelacraGiphy

"Henry VIII. Let's be honest, all he did was strong arm the church so he could marry another woman the fat greedy sod."

Dynwynn

That Henry is a real disaster. It's amazing we still talk about him.

Ioannis

"Ioannis Metaxas. He was the leader of Greece from 1936 to1941. Most famous for not surrendering to fascist Italy during WW2. The only problem is that Metaxas was a fascist dictator himself."

Dinosaur_from_1998

Oh my Fawkes!

"Guy Fawkes."

"He was a minor cog in a conspiracy that he didn't even know all that much about. He was tasked with a dead simple objective, and he failed. He gave up the names of all the co-conspirators that he knew about, but most of them operated on a much higher level than this chump, so they got off moslty scot-free. He had one job and he f**ked up three, basically. He doesn't deserve the pages that his story is written on in history books."

thetimujin

Not so motherly afterall.

"Mother Teresa believed the suffering of the poor was 'beautiful.'"

warmhandswarmheart

"She also let the sick people she 'helped' go without medicine to 'bring them closer to God.' Different story when she became sick though."

bats_and_glitter

"Oh yes. This is the perfect answer. She didn't heap anything. She was an evil woman. She believed suffering brought you closer to Jesus/God, so all her 'hospitals' didn't really help anyone. And she duped millions out of the rich to achieve this sick goal!"

twatchops

Genius?

the beatles dance GIF by US National ArchivesGiphy

"John Lennon. Don't hurt me, I'm a big Beatles fan, but somebody had to say it."

Al-Anka

"George was the true genius."

REDDIT

We really put too many people up on pedastels.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Montana Jordan and Emily Osment
Steve Granitz/FilmMagic

'Young Sheldon' Star Explains Why She Asked For An Intimacy Coordinator On The Show—And It Makes Sense

Entertainment journalist and Glamour magazine Senior West Coast Editor Jessica Radloff's new book, Young Sheldon: The (Juicier-Than-Meemaw’s-Brisket) Inside Story of the Hit Comedy, shared a story about actor Emily Osment joining the show in its fifth season that's drawing praise for her consideration for her fellow child star, Montana Jordan.

Osment, who began acting at age five, is one of a rare breed in Hollywood—a child star turned successful adult actor. It's a journey many kids have infamously stumbled on, but that Jordan has also successfully navigated perhaps in part thanks to Osment.

Keep ReadingShow less
Participants at the meeting of the furry scene Eurofurence in the Hotel Estrel in Berlin, Germany
Jens Kalaene/Picture Alliance via Getty Images

Texas GOP's Bizarre Text Warning Voters About 'Weirdo Furry Socialists' Sparks Mockery

A Texas political action committee sparked online mockery after multiple people independently told the San Antonio Current they received a text message urging Texans to vote Republican to keep so-called "furry Socialists" from choosing their leaders.

The message was sent Saturday alongside a photo purportedly showing a man wearing a fox-tail accessory as he left a polling location in Collin County. The message identified its sender as Texans for Common Sense, a political action committee funded entirely by Texans United for a Conservative Majority PAC, a far-right organization backed by West Texas oil billionaire Tim Dunn.

Keep ReadingShow less
Nicki Minaj
Alex Wong/Getty Images

Nicki Minaj Is Now Being Floated As A Possible White House Press Secretary—And It's Beyond Parody

White House Communications Director Steven Cheung had critics rolling their eyes after he shared a video of himself with rapper Nicki Minaj and floated her as the next press secretary.

Cheung's post comes as the White House continues to hunt for a replacement for Katie Zacharia, who was fired after just five days on the job.

Keep ReadingShow less
Alexander Skarsgård attends the Los Angeles premiere of Black Bear's "Wicker" at Directors Guild Of America.
Maya Dehlin/WireImage

Alexander Skarsgård's Unexpected Confession About Finding The Grinch Hot Sparks Hilarious Reactions

Some people want a man who's tall, dark, and handsome. Alexander Skarsgård prefers green, hairy, and someone who hates Christmas with a passion.

It all went down during a Bustle interview promoting Wicker, when Skarsgård and co-star Olivia Colman got into a “hear me out” discussion that took an unexpectedly naughty turn.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump in the Oval Office surrounded by Catholic Bishops and Archbishops
@MargoMartin47/X

Catholic Leaders Slam Trump White House For Turning Private Prayer Into Political Photo Op

On the afternoon of Thursday, October 22, MAGA Republican President Donald Trump's Special Assistant to the President and Communications Advisor Margo Martin posted a video of Catholic leaders praying with the POTUS in the Oval Office.

Martin, who has been with Trump since his first term, captioned the video:

Keep ReadingShow less