The Men’s List

Everyone knows the story of George Washington chopping down his cherry tree, or the horrors of some of the evillest men to live and control countries and empires, but what about the men who get left out of the story? Forgotten and pushed aside in favor of a man with a bigger ego or louder mouth?

Well, they are forgotten no longer. Within this list, you'll find men who fought in World War II and Vietnam without ever losing their moral compass. You'll meet the man who chaired the United States Senate Inquiry into the RMS Titanic disaster and some of those who survived the sinking. You'll meet Nobel Prize winners and Egyptologists, a janitor whose artwork was discovered after he died and is now seen as a master of his craft, and learn the true, tragic story behind the man who voiced Peter Pan in Disney's cartoon.

You may not find these men in your history textbooks in school, but that doesn't mean their stories are any less important.

So, here's to you, the men of the shadows, forgotten no longer.

First 100 Entries:

  1. Desmond Doss, the First Conscientious Objector to be awarded the Medal of Honor
  2. Thomas W Bennett, Conscientious Objector and Medal of Honor Recipient
  3. Joseph LaPointe Jr, Conscientious Objector and Medal of Honor Recipient
  4. Paul Rusesabinga, Human Rights Advocate in his Native Rwanda
  5. Bayard Rustin, Civil Rights Advocate and LGBT+ Icon
  6. August Landmesser, if only we could all be this brave
  7. Raoul Wallenberg, He is credited with saving around 100,000 Hungarian Jews in Six Months
  8. Wade Watts, The Man Who Defined Forgiveness
  9. Jean Laborde, The Man Who Industrialized Madagascar
  10. Father Damien, Savior to the Lepers
  11. Heyward Shepherd, The Forgotten Victim of the Raid on Harper's Ferry
  12. Lewis W Washington, Genealogy Isn't Everything
  13. Mike Rowe, Oh come on, you know who he is!
  14. Albert Camus, this whole entry is absurd!
  15. Wilhelm Krützfeld, the New Synagogue Thanks you
  16. Saint Lawrence, don't you touch his books
  17. Eduard Einstein, the forgotten Einstein son
  18. Ota Benga, this story will make you sick...with fury
  19. Don Wildman, again, you know who he is!
  20. Tom Sawyer, no not that Tom Sawyer
  21. Anton Yelchin, we will always miss you
  22. Julian Assange, *Cue angry comments in 3...2...1*
  23. Elie Wiesel, Nobel Prize winning author and teacher
  24. Albert Goring, remember his name, not his brother's
  25. Alan Turing, Please tell me you watched The Imitation Game ?
  26. Robert Jan Van Pelt, Auschwitz historian who doesn't bend to history deniers
  27. Jan Zabinski, Zookeeper of the Warsaw Zoo
  28. Erwin Rommel, The Desert Fox
  29. Henri Mouhot, You've heard of Angkor Wat because of him
  30. Walter Hunt, seriously, what didn't this guy invent?
  31. John Thayer III, RMS Titanic Survivor
  32. John B Ryerson, RMS Titanic Survivor
  33. William Coutts Jr, RMS Titanic Survivor
  34. William Carter, RMS Titanic Survivor
  35. John Collins, RMS Titanic Survivor
  36. Steve Irwin, The Crocodile Hunter
  37. Charles Stratton, PT Barnum's greatest asset
  38. Nick D'Aloisio, Who says teens can't make their dreams come true?
  39. Steve Buscemi, more than an actor
  40. Eugene Lazowski, he went above and beyond his calling as a doctor
  41. Nick Yarris, And people say we don't need a reform of the Criminal Justice System
  42. Oscar Swahn, who says old age means the end of the road?
  43. Timothy O'Sullivan, A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
  44. James Dunwoody Bulloch, The Confederate Navy's Greatest Asset
  45. Oskar Schindler, You've seen Schindler's List, right?
  46. Harold Baumgarten, Who says bullets can stop a man?
  47. John Peter Zenger, Free Speech For Me!
  48. Bradley Willman, Trojan Viruses can actually be helpful
  49. William Ellison, Well there went the narrative
  50. Albert Brown, Now this is a Dentist I Like
  51. George Francis Train, Crazy? Pssh, I think you mean genius
  52. Tuvia Bielski, Daniel Craig plays him in the movie
  53. Jeff Cooper, this one's for you Dad
  54. Auguste Mariette, "that belongs in a museum!"
  55. Henry Darger, Total recluse? Yes. Sci-Fi Extraordinaire Artist? Also yes.
  56. Nicholas Winton, Going Above and Beyond to Save the Children
  57. Stand Watie, what was it about that political narrative again?
  58. Do Won Chang, The American Dream is Alive and Well
  59. Greg Louganis, The Actual G.O.A.T (Of Diving)
  60. Owen Suskind, Autism doesn't mean a thing
  61. Mikhail Romanov, the reluctant Tsar
  62. Peter Carl Faberge, The man behind...the egg?
  63. Albert Woolson, the last man who fought in the War Between the States
  64. Ranald Mackenzie, who cares about Custer once you've heard this story?
  65. Earl Olsen, he tried so hard to save Joe Kennedy Jr...so hard
  66. Wilford Willy, and he died alongside Joe Kennedy Jr
  67. Barnes Wallis, he created the Bouncing Bombs
  68. John Glenn, that's one small step for a man
  69. Zahi Hawass, if I could meet anyone alive today, it would be him
  70. Seth McKee, he was the highest ranking survivor of D-Day at the time of his death
  71. Bobby Driscoll, you think Disney channel stars are screwed up now? Wait till you hear his story
  72. Wallace Hartley, The Band Leader aboard the RMS Titanic
  73. R Lee Ermey, Gunnery Sergeant
  74. Ryan White, he fought to end the stigma of HIV/AIDS and brought new awareness and education towards the disease
  75. Khaemweset, the first Egyptologist
  76. Andrew Breitbart, founder of Breitbart News
  77. Eugene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon
  78. Frank Buckles, the last American veteran of World War I
  79. Lyon Gardiner Tyler Jr, Died 175 Years After His Grandfather, the 10th US President, Left Office
  80. Harrison Ruffin Tyler, a living grandson of the tenth US president
  81. Daryl Davis, he's talked to over 200 members of the KKK; and they gave up their robes afterward
  82. Douglas Pitt, He's so much more than the Other Pitt
  83. Ben Thompson, Who says a gunslinger can't also be a protector of women?
  84. Patrick Henry, He protected his wife when most others would have thrown her out
  85. Ub Iwerks, the real mastermind behind the world's most beloved Mouse
  86. Willem Arondeus, Gay, resistance fighter, artist, need I say more?
  87. Father James Coyle, he was murdered for an act of kindness
  88. Theodore Roosevelt Jr, even more bada** than his father
  89. Justin Wren, The Big Pygmy
  90. Arthur H Rostron, Captain of the RMS Carpathia--the ship that rescued Titanic's victims
  91. Guy Taylor, he played Taps every night for six years to honor those who never came home
  92. Trevor Habberstad, Stunt Coordinator whose brief life will never be forgotten
  93. Bill Paxton, he brought history and SciFi characters to life in a way so few did
  94. Motke Zeidel, the last survivor of the Burning Brigade
  95. Audie Murphy, the most decorated soldier of World War II
  96. Ben Kanahele, hero of the Ni'ihau Incident
  97. Edward Younger, the man who selected the first Unknown Soldier
  98. Richard Hart, Al Capone's oldest brother
  99. Ralph Teetor, The Man Who Invented Cruise Control
  100. Gary Staab, sculptor who brings the past to life

Entries 101-200:

101) Capt Jacklyn Lucas, there's a reason his autobiography was entitled Indestructible

102: Colonel Gail Halvorsen, The Berlin Candy Bomber

103: John Walsh, Host of America's Most Wanted

104) Jack Van Arsdale, The Man Who Inspired Evacuation Day Celebrations

105: Philo Farnsworth, Inventor of the All-Electric Television Set

106: Thích Quảng Đức, the monk who committed self-immolation

107: Matt Shepard, his horrible murder sparked national attention, eventually culminating into Federal Laws to protect against hate crimes

108) Joseph Lister, the man who pioneered antiseptic medicine

109: Brushy Bill Roberts, the Man Who Claimed to be Billy the Kid

110: Joseph Goldberger, you don't know what pellagra is because of him (be thankful)

111: Henry Laurens, the first person to request to be cremated in the United States

112: Thomas Willard Ray, the only airman killed in the Bay of Pigs to have his body returned home

113: William L Rathje, his life's work was called The Garbage Project--yes really

114: Frank Lewis Mundus, he needed a bigger boat

115: Maurice Hilleman, anti-vaxxers hate him!

116: Captain Jack Kintpuash, Leader of the Modoc during the Modoc War

117: Samuel Scott, RMS Titanic's First Victim

118: Robert Moog, inventor of the synthesizer

119: Bill Goldfinch, he designed a glider to escape being a Nazi Prisoner of War

120: Henryk Ross, Photographer of the Łódź Ghetto

121: Abdul Sattar Edhi, now that's how you be a humanitarian

122: Alfred Wetzler, he escaped from Auschwitz and helped save thousands of Hungarian Jews as a result

123: Private John Williams, the last casualty of the War Between the States

124: Sergeant Brandon Mendoza, local police officer from Mesa, Arizona who will always be missed

125: Martin Couney, neonatal technician who never received any medical training

126: Saint Galgano, possibly the real King Arthur

127: William Moulton Marston, original creator of Wonder Woman

128: William Cody, otherwise known as Buffalo Bill

129: Alvin York, one of the most decorated soldiers from World War I

130: Ignaz Semmelweis, he told people washing your hands was a good idea

131: Tsutomu Yamaguchi, is it really luck that he survived both Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

132: Hans Scholl, a founding member of the White Rose Resistance Movement

133: Major Scott Smiley, he continued to serve after being blinded by a suicide car bomber

134: Jean-Francois Champollion, one of the most important figures in translating Egyptian Hieroglyphs

135: Sergeant First-Class Edward Carter Jr, Medal of Honor Recipient who was not awarded right until thirty years after he died

136: Abba Kovner, Founder of the Jewish Avengers

137: George Eastman, founder of the Eastman Kodak Printing Company

138: Harry Gordon Selfridge, Founder of Selfridge's Department Store

139: William Petrie, Egyptologist and expert on Bog Bodies

140: James Doohan, actor who was shot six times by friendly fire during D-Day

141: Yang Kyoungjong, Korean soldier who was forced into fighting for the Japanese, then Russian, then German Armies

142: James Wilson Marshall, he found the small sliver of gold that struck the '49 Rush

143: Georg Rauch, a Jewish soldier conscripted into the German Army

144: Hiroo Onoda, Japanese soldier from World War II who refused to surrender until 1974

145: Benjamin Ferencz, the last surviving prosecutor from the Nuremburg Trials

146: Lieutenant Simo Häyhä, possibly the deadliest sniper in world history

147: John Harington, the man who named his toilet Ajax (it also just happened to be the first flushing toilet)

148: Simon Wiesenthal, the Nazi Hunter

149: Rolf Mengele, he has tried to make amends for the sins of his father

150: Fritz Bauer, Jewish judge who was essential in seeing the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials come to fruition

151: T. E. Lawrence, Lawrence of Arabia

152: Colonel James Rowe, one of thirty-four prisoners to escape captivity during the Vietnam War

153: James Clerk Maxwell, without him you never would have heard of Einstein

154: Captain Witold Pilecki, volunteered to become a prisoner in Auschwitz

155: Lt. Col. John Malcolm Thorpe Fleming Churchill, he fought in World War II armed with bagpipes, a broadsword, and a longbow

156: András Toma, the last World War II Prisoner of War to be released from captivity (in 2000)

157: Father Suitbert Mollinger, he collected over 5,000 Catholic Relics in his church

158: Ruan An, one of the most important architects of the Forbidden City in China

159: Sergeant Charles Floyd, the only member of the Corps of Discovery to die

160: Martin Sklar, Disney's International Ambassador for Imagineering

161: Chiune Sugihara, he and his wife Yukiko are credited with saving 6,000 Jews during the Shoah

162: Jan Zwartendijk, worked alongside Sugihara to see 6,000 Jews survive the Shoah

163: Ray Chavez, at the time of his death he was the oldest living Pearl Harbor Veteran

164: Benjamin Lay, the Vegan Dwarf Quaker

165: Charles "Chick" Parsons, instrumental in helping General MacArthur return triumphantly to the Philippines during World War II

166: Jason Everman, he went from playing in bands like Nirvana & Soundgarden to serving as an Army Ranger & Green Beret

167: Walter Knott, the creator of Knott's Berry Farm themepark

168: Kevyn Aucoin, before there were James, Jeffree, and Manny, there was Kevyn

169: Major General Israel Putnam, "Don't Shoot Until You See the Whites of Their Eyes!"

170: Sergeant Sylvester Antolak, Medal of Honor recipient from World War II

171: Nathan "Nearest" Green, ever wonder how Jack Daniel learned to distill whiskey?

172: Helmuth Hübener, the youngest person to ever be executed by the Nazi's People's Court
173: William Alden Smith, the US Senator who oversaw the RMS Titanic Senate Inquiry into the disaster
174: Pete Kitchen, his ranch was the only safe place to stay between Tucson and Magdalena, Mexico for many years

175: Lorenzo Hubbell, trader and friend to the Navajo

176: Capt. Martin Van Buren Bates, the Kentucky River Giant

177: John Killian Wren, the first FBI Agent of Native American Heritage
178: Frederick Aiken, Mary Surratt's defense attorney

179: Qin Shi Huang, the Terracotta Army is in his tomb

180: Harry Burton, the photographer hired for most of the Egyptian excavations in the early 20th Century

181: Julien Bryan, documentarian who illegally recorded life inside Berlin

182: Frank Sprague, the Forgotten Hero of the American Subway

183: James Parks, a freedman who is prominently buried in Arlington National Cemetery

184: Henri Charrière, The Real Papillon

185: Priscillian, early Christian figure who was the first to receive capital punishment for heresy

186: Corporal Werner Dreschler, German Prisoner of War who was murdered at the Papago Park POW Camp in Arizona

187: Tripp Phillips, founder of Le-Glue

188: Matt Carriker, in his words, "Welcome to the Demolitia"

189: Psamtik I, founder of the 26th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt

190: Joachim Rønneberg, commander of Operation Gunnerside

191: Anthony Clifford Allison, geneticist who discovered the link between Malaria and Sickle Cell Disease
192: Francis Bannerman VI, builder of Bannerman's Castle
193: Sylvan Goldman, the inventor of the shopping cart
194: Second Lieutenant Eugene Bullard, the first man of African descent to become a combat pilot

195: Charles Crittenton, Founder of the National Florence Crittenton Mission

196: Mark Hogancamp, the real man behind Welcome to Marwin

197: Richard Overton, when he died he was the oldest World War II veteran still alive
198: Rodney Marks, the only person ever murdered at the South Pole

199: Józef Piłsudski, the first leader of a unified Modern Poland
200: Robert Irwin, Nature Conservationist and Photographer

That's All for Now Folks!

Have an idea for a future entry onto the Men's List? Send us an email with their name, a bit of their history, and at least one reliable source to get started!