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They’re revered for their notable actions and discoveries throughout history, but what
happens when we dig into the truth of their lives?
Will we still clamber for them after uncovering the mysteries of their past or will we shy
away when we uncover the darkness that shrouds their accolades?
10.
Dr. Seuss Though you’ll be thrust into denial, As
we tell you things so vile.
Poor Helen Geisel, ill wife of Seuss, The man she loved, who tightened the noose.
While it may not be fit for the next Dr. Seuss collection, our little poem does tell a story
many may not be aware of.
We grew up hearing Green Eggs and Ham and loving How the Grinch Stole Christmas, but
our childhood was swiftly ruined after reading the suicide note left by Seuss’ deceased
wife.
Distraught over her lengthy battle with cancer and her husband’s infidelity with one Audrey
Stone Dimond, Helen overdosed on barbiturates.
The opening to her note is more than telling, asking Ted, the man we know as Seuss, “What
has happened to us?”
The note doesn’t indicate a mutual separation, as if Helen wanted her husband to find happiness
in another, making it seem that the children’s author abandoned his wife.
A year after Helen passed, Seuss married his lover.
9.
Thomas Edison Look at the lamp or the recessed lighting
that may be brightening your room.
The glowing orb contained within was once a miracle of discovery attributed to the genius
that was Thomas Edison, but as time goes on, the truth is sure to be illuminated.
While it’s true Edison contributed to the practical light bulb, the history of the bulb
includes other names like Alessandro Volta, Joseph Swan, and Hiram Maxim.
In fact, Edison is alleged to have stolen the spotlight for several of his high-profile
inventions including the electric chair, which is said to have been invented by an employee
named Harold Brown and the concept of x-ray, which is attributed to Nikola Tesla, just
to name a few.
Essentially, though Edison did produce his own work, he got his fame and fortune partially
off others’ concepts and ideas.
8.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Before he was inspiring the nation with his “I Have a Dream” speech, King was just
another student trying to obtain his doctorate.
Most of us have been there, pressed to produce an assignment that tested your desire to actually
finish your degree.
For King, it was a dissertation on “A Comparison of the Conceptions of God in the Thinking
of Paul Tillich and Henry Nelson Wieman” for his Philosophy doctoral degree at Boston
University.
The issue, as a committee of scholars came to find 36 years after his graduation and
23 years after his death, is that King actually plagiarized portions of the speech.
The committee, appointed by Boston University, determined that verbatim passages had not
been credited.
Considering what he accomplished for civil rights and the time that had passed, there
was no consideration to revoke Dr. King’s degree – a decision we can probably all
get behind.
7.
Marco Polo If you’re going to tell a tall tale, you
might as well make it one of the best the people of your time will ever hear.
For Marco Polo, the man that was said to have navigated to China and hob-knobbed with Kublai
Khan, those tall tales may have actually been his chronicles in the East.
Several researchers, including Professor Daniele Petrella of Naples University and Dr. Frances
Wood, head of the Chinese Department of the British Libra, believe that Polo’s details
about the “Far East” were actually pulled from Arab, Asian, and Persian references.
In her aptly titled book Did Marco Polo Go To China, Wood postulates that a lack of specific
details, like the Great Wall and Chinese calligraphy, and an absence of the Italian in any Chinese
sources points to Polo having forged his journey.
6.
Thomas Jefferson Imagine being a Founding Father and the president
of a pro-slavery country and having allegations posed against you of a possible relationship
with your house servant.
While modern society would support the progression, a man like Thomas Jefferson, who was known
for calling African Americans “biologically inferior” and criticized a biracial community,
would condemn it.
That is, of course, unless those allegations were in reference to Jefferson’s illicit
relationship with Sally Hemings, a slave he had inherited from a man who was allegedly
Sally Hemings’ father and Jefferson’s father-in-law, John Wayles.
The rumor that Jefferson had fathered Hemings’ six children came from journalist James Callender
and was substantiated by later DNA tests and evidence weighed by a committee formed by
the Thomas Jefferson Foundation.
Curiously, a committee later commissioned by the Thomas Jefferson Heritage Society reviewed
the same material and went against the first determination, possibly to clear Jefferson’s
legacy.
5.
Martin Luther Theologian and professor Martin Luther played
a pivotal role in instigating the Protestant Reformation and standing up against the strict
Catholic Church.
His early views aimed to reduce the control of the Pope, change the practices of the very
strict Roman Catholic Church, and even offer sympathy to followers of the Jewish faith
being unjustly treated by Catholics.
That was early on in his attempt at reformation and not all of his views remained the same.
About 15 years after inciting the reformation, Luther had a change of heart, allegedly when
he heard of Jews trying to convert Christians, and launched into a tirade of anti-Semitism.
His sympathy turned to anger and his writings declared that the “Jews [were] truly stupid
fools” and their houses should be destroyed.
The once tolerant reformer quickly became known as the “church father of anti-Semitism”
and has even been alleged of paving the way for Hitler.
4.
Christopher Columbus At this point in time, the fact that Columbus
didn’t discover the Americas isn’t really a secret, but there’s more to the explorer’s
history that makes a little incorrect accreditation seem irrelevant.
There’s a movement spreading throughout the United States aiming to change “Columbus
Day” to “Indigenous People Day,” partially because people don’t want to celebrate a
day linked to a man known for allegedly enslaving, prostituting, and partaking in the rape and
murder of the Caribbean natives.
There’s also the belief that the Italian explorer fed his dogs human meat, which was
said to be from the bodies of locals.
Despite once being revered by the United States, Columbus is now vilified as a sadist with
no regard for the indigenous people he came into contact with.
3.
Abraham Lincoln Seven score and 12 years ago, President Abraham
Lincoln was assassinated at Ford’s Theater in Washington D.C., leaving behind a legacy
as the man that freed the slaves.
The further you dig, however, the more you realize there’s more to Lincoln’s legacy
than just his part in the Emancipation Proclamation.
Though he may have freed the slaves, Honest Abe wasn’t entirely keen on keeping them
within the country.
Initially, the president’s plan was to deport the freed slaves to a colony far away from
the states.
Initially, his eyes fell on Liberia but, in 1863, 500 freed slaves were sent to Ile a
Vache in the Caribbean.
The plan was a disaster, resulting in an outbreak of smallpox and starvation within a year.
Lincoln was also known for dismissing Habeas Corpus from the constitution and ignored a
Supreme Court ruling that declared his actions unconstitutional.
2.
Mother Teresa Saint Mother Teresa is a woman that will forever
best be known for her pious actions of good will towards her fellow man, but there are
those out there that question if what we know is the absolute truth.
In fact, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh of the Hindu nationalist group claims that Teresa’s
actions always came with an ulterior motive.
While many scoffed at Sangh’s allegations, it became evident that he was far from alone.
A documentary about Teresa titled “Hell’s Angel” calls into question her “dubious”
care of the sick, convenient political contacts, management of large allocations of money,
and the conditions of her missionary facilities, which were once compared to Nazi concentration
camps.
A former worker at one of Teresa’s homes and British writer, Aroup Chatterjee, even
claimed some of the established facilities were used not to aid the sick but to convert
locals to Catholicism. 1.
Gandhi If you’ve ever looked at Gandhi and thought
he looked like a dirty old man, your judgment may be more accurate than you think.
Gandhi may have given up food to protest the British government, but if the allegations
are correct, chances are he didn’t give up another favorite pastime of his.
Gandhi had become known for his sexual views and unusual tests where he’d sleep next
to naked girls to test his restraint, but there was something else about the leader
that led the former prime minister of Travancore to call him a “dangerous, semi-repressed
sex maniac.”
In his most intimate and highly rejected experiments, Gandhi called upon his teenage grandnieces
and forced them to sleep naked with him.