People Famous For Things They Didn’t Do

Being
famous probably isn’t as comfortable as everyone claims. Everyone
knows who you are, everyone watches your every move. Some people can
reach a level of fame that makes their name transcend time itself,
being known by many generations after their death. Usually this is
because they did something truly unique in their lives.

But
what if you’re famous for something you didn’t do? That must
suck, right? Enjoy these examples below.

Michael
Jackson

Michael
Jackson didn’t actually invent his iconic
moonwalk. In fact, many people used it
before MJ turned it into one of the most recognizable moves in modern
dance. Even James Brown – who can hardly be called anonymous –
had moonwalked before Michael attempted it.

Pythagoras

If
you hate the Pythagorean theorem,
you don’t hate Pythagoras: he never invented it. History shows that
the theorem was known and widely used almost 1000 years before
Pythagoras was even born.

Caesar

Despite
having a huge impact on history, Julius Caesar was never Emperor
of Rome. He actually declared himself
Dictator-for-life, which is quite something different. He also didn’t
invent the Caesar salad, but I’m guessing most people knew that.

Christopher
Columbus

We
all grow up learning that Christopher Columbus was the first to test
the theory that the Earth was round, but this had actually been known
two millennia before his journey west. The
discovery of Earth being round is
probably more something Aristotle did than Columbus.

Shakespeare

It
was one of his most famous poems, but William Shakespeare didn’t
write Hamlet
at all. It was actually influenced by a legend written by Saxo
Grammaticus, who was Danish. This Norse legend told the tale of
Amleth (sounds familiar, doesn’t it?) and had pretty much the same
story as Hamlet did.

Joseph-Ignace
Guillotin

Joseph-Ignace didn’t invent the guillotine, despite it being almost literally named after him. They gave the machine of death his name because it was created and perfected because of Guillotin’s quest for a more “humane” method of performing capital punishment.