Groundbreaking investigative journalist Nellie Bly went undercover as a patient in an insane asylum in order to expose abuses there in 1887. Two years later, another assignment saw her turn the novel Around the World in Eighty Days into reality when she traveled around the globe herself — in just 72 days.Wikimedia Commons
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Cleisthenes
Though many people credit Thomas Jefferson as the father of democracy, the honor actually lies with the Greek philosopher Cleisthenes, who restructured the constitution of Athens in 508 B.C.E.Wikimedia Commons
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Pope Leo I
Though lots of popes have made their mark in the history of the Catholic Church, Pope Leo has been heralded as one of the most important. Aside from issuing transformative documents, Pope Leo singlehandedly persuaded Atilla the Hun to back down from his invasion of Italy.Wikimedia Commons
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Audrey Munson
Audrey Munson was a model and actress, widely referred to as the first American supermodel. She was the inspiration for more than 12 statues in New York City and paved the way for other models and actresses when she became the first actress to appear nude on-screen.Wikimedia Commons
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Edith Wilson
Though America missed getting its first female president in 2016, many people don't realize that we already, basically, had one. After her husband Woodrow Wilson had a debilitating stroke in 1919, Edith Wilson stepped up to the plate. For just over a year, Edith was the acting President of the United States while her husband recovered.Wikimedia Commons
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Percy Julian
Percy Julian was a doctor living under Jim Crow who was a pioneer in the drug industry. After he developed the chemical synthesis of hormones like progesterone and testosterone, he became the first African American chemist inducted into the National Academy of Sciences. His research also laid the groundwork for modern-day steroids.Wikimedia Commons
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Agent 355
Agent 355 was a female spy who worked directly for George Washington during the American Revolution. Even today, her identity is unknown, though some facts have been gathered. It is known that she was likely a socialite living in New York City who passed vital information about Washington's affluent enemies back to him.Wikimedia Commons
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Mary Anning
Mary Anning was one of the first female paleontologists, and she specialized specifically in the Jurassic Era. Her most important discovery was that of an ichthyosaur skeleton, the first one ever to be correctly identified.Wikimedia Commons
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Hedy Lamarr
Hedy Lamarr may have gotten her start as an actress, but her larger legacy is much more important. After she immigrated to the United States from Austria, Lamarr devoted her life to science, working to create something called "spread spectrum technology" — the precursor to modern-day Bluetooth and wifi.Wikimedia Commons
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Ching Shih
Ching Shih was a Chinese sex worker who ended up taking over her husband's fleet and becoming one of the most successful pirate lords in history.Wikimedia Commons
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Annie Edson Taylor
Annie Edson Taylor was a teacher who, in 1901, on her 63rd birthday, became the first woman to survive a trip over Niagara Falls in a barrel. After she was fished out of the water, she told reporters that she would "caution anyone against attempting the feat."Wikimedia Commons
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Violet Jessop
Violet Jessop was a steward who worked for the White Star Line in the early 1900s. She was aboard the Titanic when it sank and survived. What makes her story more interesting than the rest of the survivors? She was also aboard the Titanic's two sister ships — both of which sank, and both of which she survived.Wikimedia Commons
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Margaret Howe Lovatt
Margaret Howe Lovatt was the research assistant to Dr. John C. Lilly, who set out on an experiment to prove that dolphins could be taught English. While the experiment ultimately failed, it resulted in Lovatt living in close quarters with a dolphin for almost two months.YouTube
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Lyudmila Pavlichenko
Lyudmila Pavlichenko was a sniper for the Soviet Red Army during World War II. With 309 credited kills, she is considered one of the top military snipers of all time, and the most successful female sniper in history.Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images
Whether they come from the realms of government, science, military, or elsewhere, there are interesting people from history that almost everyone knows about, like Galileo, Thomas Jefferson, Rosa Parks, or Henry Ford.
Countless inventors, dignitaries, and social activists have made a lasting impression on history. Their stories make it into textbooks and classrooms, and they eventually become household names. Some become so well known that if someone were to ask, "who is the most interesting person in the world?" there's a chance that one of those people would be the answer.
However, there are some interesting people who do amazing things and somehow never get remembered for them. Sometimes they were simply doing the right thing at the wrong time. Sometimes the fact that they were never credited was purely a mistake, or there was no one around to see their achievement.
Other times, their achievement was purposely erased from history. Many women and Black people, for instance, went uncredited for decades or even centuries following their discoveries or inventions or achievements, simply because society did not allow them to take credit for them.
Whatever the case, the point remains that history has unfairly forgotten a large amount of people who deserve to have their stories heard. Despite their absence from most history books, they remain some of the most interesting figures in history.
John Kuroski is the editorial director of All That's Interesting. He graduated from New York University with a degree in history, earning a place in the Phi Alpha Theta honor society for history students. An editor at All That's Interesting since 2015, his areas of interest include modern history and true crime.
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Serena, Katie. "14 Interesting People That History Somehow Forgot." AllThatsInteresting.com, November 7, 2017, https://mirror2.pbh-network.com/interesting-people/. Accessed October 3, 2025.
