If I Exist Now Why Can t I Exist Again
History is full of incredible tales of brave warriors, smashing thinkers and prolific writers. But how often take you wondered if these people actually lived up to their names, or even lived at all? Every bit it turns out, there are a large number of people who have managed to become incredibly famous without ever actually bothering to exist.
Check out this collection of famous fictional people who managed to gain notoriety, both in ancient times and our own.
Betty Crocker
For over a century at present, Betty Crocker has been synonymous with the prototype of wholesome American housewives everywhere. Known for her legendary cooking skills, her image even so appears on a diverseness of foods we've all had in our kitchens at one bespeak or another.
As it turns out, nonetheless, Betty was never a real person at all. She was really a marketing character developed in the late 1800s by the visitor that somewhen became General Mills. She was fifty-fifty portrayed past several models over the years to keep the world from ultimately discovering the truth.
King Arthur
While certain parts of King Arthur's tale are clearly the stuff of fable, information technology would make sense that he was at least based on an actual ruler, right? To this day, there'due south however a contend, even amongst historians, over whether Rex Arthur actually existed or not.
Although some doubtable that there may be historical footing for Britain's most legendary monarch, others insist he was based on another ruler entirely. Among the nigh pop candidates for his inspiration are a Roman general named Lucius Artorius Castus, the 5th century British rex Riothamus or the warrior king Ambrosius Aurelianus.
Odysseus
If you've ever read The Odyssey, then you're likely familiar with its main character, Odysseus. The epic poem deals with all the mythical problems he faces while trying to get dwelling from the Trojan War. The frequent appearances of mythical creatures like sirens and cyclopses are enough to make anyone suspect the story is mere fantasy.
For many years, however, scholars believed that Odysseus might accept been based on an actual king. The Odysseus debate was recently reignited after what may have been his palace was discovered in Ithaca in 2010.
Pythagoras
While you likely learned almost Pythagoras in math course, his legacy is really upward for fence. Some say that Pythagoras did live in the 5th or 6th century B.C. but was more the leader of a numerology cult than the great thinker he's known every bit today.
Tellingly, most of the ideas attributed to him today didn't come around until long later his expiry. This has led historians to believe that either some of his most famous "work" was actually that of his followers or that he was simply a pseudonym created by the cult as a whole.
Carolyn Keene and Franklin West. Dixon
If y'all grew up reading both The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, then y'all may or not be surprised to find out that they were actually the work of the same guy. Though Carolyn Keene is credited as the author of the Nancy Drew series and Franklin W. Dixon as the author of The Hardy Boys, both are just pennames.
It was actually a man named Edward Stratemeyer who was the creator of both series. He had so many ideas that he had to enlist the help of several ghostwriters, whom he collectively named Carolyn Keene and Franklin West. Dixon.
Johnny Appleseed
It may come equally no surprise to learn that there was never an actual guy who loved planting apple seeds. Yet, while the folk tales we all know nigh Johnny and his can pot lid may non be truthful, he was actually based on a real person.
His existent proper noun was John Chapman, and he really did go effectually planting cider apple tree nurseries throughout the northeast. As his popularity spread, he was eventually sculpted into a mythical figure whose tales we still enjoy today.
Tokyo Rose
Back in Globe War 2, an all-female group of English-speaking radio broadcasters began spreading Japanese propaganda in the hopes of demoralizing U.S. troops. Several of the women went by pseudonyms on the air for obvious reasons, though ironically the proper noun "Tokyo Rose" was never one of them.
Regardless, the name was used by the American media in the 1940s and somewhen came to refer to Iva Toguri, i of the group'due south primal members. It turned out that although she was born in the U.s.a., she had gotten stuck in Japan while visiting due to Pearl Harbor.
Pierre Brassau
In 1964 during the height of the Advanced motility in mod fine art, a prolific artist arrived on the scene. When four of his paintings appeared in a Swedish fine art gallery, critics were quick to insist that Pierre Brassau was destined to be the next big affair in the fine art earth.
Little did they know, Pierre was actually a chimpanzee. The whole affair was a hoax created by a journalist named Åke "Dacke" Axelsson who was attempting to prove just how ridiculous the newest trends in modern fine art had become at the time.
Nat Tate
Some other artist past the name of Nat Tate took things fifty-fifty farther than beingness an ape by never actually existing at all. He was the invention of a Scottish writer named William Boyd who published a "biography" virtually Tate'southward life in 1998.
The book claimed that Tate was a troubled but bright creative person who tragically destroyed 99% of his piece of work before leaping to his death off the Station Island Ferry. Boyd watched in glee equally illustrious figures from the art earth claimed to exist familiar with Tate'southward legacy before revealing that the whole thing was an elaborate Apr Fool's joke.
Pope Joan
While Pope Joan's story is a peachy 1, historians are highly doubtful that it really happened. Equally legend has it, Joan dressed every bit a human and moved up through the church hierarchy until she was finally elected Pope. Unfortunately, she blew her cover one day by accidentally giving birth in front end of everybody.
Some people still insist that she was an bodily person, while others believe her myth originated in the book History of Emperors and Popes by the monk Martin Polonus. While her story probably wasn't originally included, historians speculate that information technology may have slipped in later on the author's death.
William Shakespeare
While at that place definitely was a real guy named William Shakespeare, some people insist that there was no fashion he was actually the writer of the plays we attribute to him (or at least all of them). Rumors have swirled for centuries that he was simply the frontman for a adult female or another author who couldn't reveal their true identity.
Aside from Francis Salary, Emilia Bassano and Christopher Marlowe, Edward de Vere, the Earl of Oxford has emerged every bit an interesting candidate for the "existent" Shakespeare. Vere'south poetry highly resembles Shakespeare's, and being a nobleman, he would have had to publish under an assumed name in those days.
John Barron
Long before Donald Trump was president, he was a real estate mogul. Back in the 1980s, Trump's calls were frequently fielded by his spokesman, John Barron. Barron was often quoted in the press and was known to handle many of Trump's stickier situations.
It wasn't until after a full decade of enjoying Mr. Barron's service that Trump revealed during a trial that his spokesman didn't actually exist. It turned out that Trump had pretended to be Barron all along and used the made-upward spokesman to put a buffer between himself and the press.
William Tell
There's a famous Swiss folktale about a homo named William Tell who was forced to shoot an apple off of his son's head by the Austrians. Subsequently defying the Austrian rulers of the day, Tell was forced to either perform the seemingly impossible task or die.
Though Tell completed the archery challenge without killing anyone just the apple, he didn't have much to lose considering that he probably never existed at all! Not only is there no tape of him, merely there's evidence that the Swiss may even take stolen the story from the Vikings.
Robin Hood
While Robin Hood is legendary for robbing from the rich and giving to the poor, historians have had a hard time pinning down whether he was a real person. As tales of his adventures take spread over the years, it'south become incredibly difficult to figure out which, if any, were based in fact.
Rumors have claimed that the real Robin Hood was everything from a member of the Knights Templar to one of King Richard the Lionheart's about loyal followers. Unfortunately, we may never know if he was a real man or only a medieval myth.
Paul Bunyan
We've all heard the tales of the massive lumberjack and his enormous friend, Babe the Big Blue Ox. But was Paul Bunyan actually a historical figure whose story eventually morphed into legend? Some historians believe that while he'south a fictional character, he may have been based on two famous French-Canadian loggers named Fabian Fournier and Bon Jean.
Fournier, aka "Saginaw Joe," achieved fame subsequently his ultra-manly lifestyle got him murdered in a Michigan bar. Bon Jean was a logger who won renown for his participation in the Papineau Rebellion of 1837. Some scholars believe his name eventually evolved into "Bunyan."
Prester John
During the Crusades, a homo named Prester John, aka John the Elder, was the about sought after homo in Christendom. Legends spread throughout Europe that he was a keen Christian priest-king who ruled a kingdom hidden somewhere in Asia or Africa.
He was rumored to have descended from one of the iii Magi and sparked endless attempts to attempt to locate him. Though he supposedly sent a letter to Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Comnenus in 1165, information technology was about definitely a simulated, as no evidence has been found that he was ever an bodily person.
John Henry
Every bit the legend goes, John Henry was a massive steel-driver who died in the process of racing a steam drill. While he appears to exist fictional, historians point to two probable candidates for his inspiration.
The first, a man named John William Henry, was a steel commuter who did indeed dice during the construction of a Virginia railroad. He was never recorded as racing a machine, nevertheless, and was only about 5 ft. tall. The other was a former slave named Johny Henry Dabney, who some people claim raced a steam drill in 1887.
Homer
Even the being of the Greek poet Homer, writer of the epic poems The Illiad and The Odyssey, has come nether scrutiny by some scholars. Historians note that at that place's little gimmicky evidence for the life of the famous poet, which supposedly took place in the seventh or 8th century BCE.
As a result, some believe that he never really existed and was simply the pseudonym for an unabridged grouping of authors who put together a drove of ancient tales. Others recollect that if he did exist, he may have merely assembled the tales rather than authored them.
Lycurgus
In case you're not familiar with Lycurgus, he's said to be the creator of the "Lycurgan reforms" of ancient Sparta. The reforms were a set of laws that ultimately led Sparta to become known as 1 of the nigh fearless civilizations in all of history.
While the reforms definitely happened, some scholars cast downwardly on whether Lycurgan was an actual man or simply a myth than the Spartans invented. Some claim that crediting a single, god-like being with engineering the Spartan culture was easier than acknowledging the many people who may have really been involved.
Alan Smithee
Since the 1980s, director Alan Smithee has racked up a number of directing credits. His name has been splashed beyond screens in theaters across the globe, and many a critic has reviewed his work. Known as one of the worst directors in Hollywood, the adept news is that he doesn't actually exist.
Alan Smithee is a pseudonym used by directors who are and then unhappy with a projection they worked on that they don't even want their proper name fastened to information technology. Since someone has to get the credit, they collectively invented Smithee as a fictional scapegoat.
David Manning
Some other Hollywood personality who turned out to be fictional was a film reviewer named David Manning. When all the other critics were giving the public a caput'southward up about notoriously bad films, Manning would regularly appear and shower them with praise.
Ultimately, things get so fishy that a trivial earthworks led to the discovery that Manning was actually the invention of two Sony marketing executives who were trying to promote the studio's films. When the news broke, one California couple even sued Sony for duping them into seeing bad movies with Manning'south fake reviews.
Mulan
While Mulan (more properly known as Hua Mulan in Communist china) has become popular plenty to score her own Disney movie, historians accept had a difficult time nailing down whether she was an actual person. Some claim that she may take been inspired by an bodily female person Chinese warrior named Wei Huahu.
Even if this was the case, however, there'southward no evidence that Wei Huahu posed as a man during boxing. Mulan's primeval reference comes from an ancient Chinese ballad chosen The Battle of Mulan, which may have been no more than than a really swell story.
Allegra Coleman
Back in 1996, Esquire Magazine ran a embrace story on Allegra Coleman, who they alleged Hollywood'due south adjacent "information technology girl." Fawned over past everyone from Deepak Chopra to Quentin Tarantino, Coleman was destined to get a household proper name.
As managers and agents all over Hollywood chosen in to go their hands on her, they were surprised to learn that she didn't actually exist. The magazine had run the article equally a satirical comment on how stars are drooled over in the media. Allegra was portrayed by actress Ali Larter, who later scored a role on Heroes.
Ann Taylor
For decades now, Ann Taylor stores have been a staple in the earth of women's fashion. The make offers everything from suits and dresses to bridalwear for the elegant American woman. Ironically, withal, Anne Taylor is nothing more than than a fictional name chosen past the brand's founder, Richard Liebeskind.
When Liebesking opened his showtime shop in the 1950s, he named it afterwards a all-time-selling clothes style rather than an actual woman. He figured it would invoke a classy, New England vibe, and fourth dimension has proven that he wasn't of the mark.
George P. Burdell
A guy named George P. Burdell managed to atomic number 82 the 2001 online poll votes for Fourth dimension's Person of the Year, all without ever having existed. It all began in 1927 when a student named Ed Smith enrolled both himself and the fictional Burdell into Georgia Tech.
Smith kept upward the charade by enrolling Burdell in his classes and even completing his assignments for him. Eventually, Burdell "graduated" and became the all-time hoax in college history. Other students fifty-fifty kept his legacy alive and helped him attain everything from a historic war record to a job at MAD magazine.
Jim Crow
During the belatedly 18th-early 19th centuries, Jim Crow laws were enacted to keep the American Southward racially segregated. So who was this Jim Crow, and was he a supporter or victim of the laws that bear his name? Equally it turns out, he was neither.
The proper name was actually derived from a minstrel routine performed past a white man named Thomas Dartmouth Rice in the 1800s. Rice would appear in blackface and put on an act well-nigh a trickster named Jim Crow. The deed was then offensive that "Jim Crow" ultimately became a derogatory name for African-Americans.
Sun Tzu
The Art of War remains a classic slice of literature that's still read by people all over the world. Rumored to have been the work of a brilliant Chinese military leader named Lord's day Tzu, it includes communication on everything from outsmarting enemies to motivating troops.
But who was Sun Tzu, and how exactly did he gain such a wealth of knowledge? Curiously, historians can find no record of him or where the book commencement originated. This has led many to suspect that the book;s armed services strategies were amassed over generations rather than the work of merely 1 author.
St. Christopher
In 1969, Catholics were a bit shaken to larn that St. Christopher had been kicked off of their universal calendar similar Pluto from the solar system. As the patron saint of travelers as well equally a defender against everything from toothaches to hailstorms, St. Christopher had held a place in the hearts of Catholics around the world for centuries.
While he may have had some basis in history, the church became concerned that near of his saintly deeds were conspicuously the stuff legend. Nonetheless, they allow him go along his sainthood anyway, just in instance.
Lao Dan
Lao "Laozi" Dan, the Chinese philosopher and founder of Taoism, is a man shrouded in mystery. Legend says that subsequently writing the Tao Te Ching, he simply walked off and disappeared into the mists. Nonetheless, his legacy and work have survived fifty-fifty to this day.
Some scholars believe that his famous work was really a compilation of philosophies gathered by several aboriginal masters. Due to the text's frequent shifts in tone and manner, Laozi may have been a term used to refer to a group of teachers or merely a pseudonym.
Silence Dogood
A woman named Silence Dogood definitely scores a place as one of the funniest false people in American history. She began making contributions to a newspaper run by a human named James Franklin back in the 1700s, and her work was so prolific that she received several wedlock proposals from readers.
Eventually, it came out that Silence was actually a fictional grapheme invented by Franklin'southward brother, the then sixteen-year-former Benjamin Franklin. (Yeah, that one.) He had created the persona to get his work published afterwards his brother refused to let him contribute to the newspaper.
Source: https://www.smarter.com/people/most-famous-people-never-actually-existed?utm_content=params%3Ao%3D740011%26ad%3DdirN%26qo%3DserpIndex
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