Buzz
For many, achieving something noteworthy enough to be immortalized in history is a dream come true. Sometimes, a single groundbreaking accomplishment can secure a person's legacy. On rare occasions, certain individuals manage to impact multiple domains of life.
One would assume that such trailblazers would surely earn their place in history. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. Here’s a list of ten individuals who made remarkable contributions in various fields but never received the recognition they truly deserved.
10. John Brinkley
John Brinkley was a fraud, but he had a service to market. He promoted goat testicle transplants as a cure for infertility in men. Despite the fact that this 'treatment' was not grounded in science, Brinkley performed over 16,000 of these surgeries. He advertised his service on his radio station KFKB, the fourth radio station ever in the United States. To fund his station, he would talk about the supposed benefits of his product for 30-minute stretches. These broadcasts are now considered the first infomercials. Much like modern infomercials, they were long-winded, repetitive, and often deceptive.
After being caught deceiving listeners, the US government shut down his operations. Undeterred, Brinkley relocated his practice to Mexico, where he built the largest, most powerful radio tower in the world. This allowed him to broadcast into the United States. In addition to his infomercial programming, he played music to entertain his listeners. Brinkley is credited as the first person to broadcast country music nationwide. His station was the first to feature the legendary Carter Family, playing a pivotal role in bringing country music to a broader audience.
By bringing country music out of its Appalachian roots and into Texas, Brinkley helped forge the country-western sound that would dominate the genre for years to come. Decades later, after his death, his position at the station was filled by Wolfman Jack. Wolfman Jack went on to play a significant role in popularizing rock and roll across the nation.
9. Tom Lehrer
In 1959, Tom Lehrer was arguably one of the most audacious comedians on the road. Although he spent his days as a slim, bespectacled Harvard mathematician, he was secretly a radical satirist. In an era where most were watching Leave it to Beaver and Dick Van Dyke, Lehrer's songs tackled controversial topics such as nuclear destruction, lynch mobs, necrophilia, prostitution, murder, and poisoning pigeons. The Library of Congress regards him as the originator of 'sick comedy.' For his pioneering influence, Lehrer became the first comedian to be inducted into the National Recording Registry in 2004. His work inspired other satirists, including Lenny Bruce, Weird Al Yankovic, and Randy Newman.
Tom Lehrer seemed to have a lifelong knack for defying authority. During his time in the Army, there was a strict prohibition on drinking at the base. This put a damper on the 1957 Christmas party. To circumvent this, Lehrer came up with the clever idea of mixing vodka with Jell-O. Since it was technically food, the soldiers could get drunk without breaking the rules. According to The SAGE Encyclopedia of Alcohol, this is considered the invention of the Jell-O shot.
8. Cathy Smith
Cathy Smith might not be widely known, but she certainly mingled with her share of celebrities. She began her career as a groupie at just 16. Being Canadian, she was a huge fan of The Band. Despite her youth, she started a relationship with the band's drummer, Levon Helm. The relationship became complicated when it was revealed that she was also seeing other band members, Richard Manuel and Rick Danko. Eventually, one of them fathered her child, though the true parent was never confirmed. All three men helped raise the child. This complicated love triangle, coupled with Smith’s frequent rendition of 'Short Fat Fannie,' inspired the chorus of The Band’s iconic song, 'The Weight.' Though the song only reached number 63 on the charts, it has since become a classic. Pitchfork ranked it as the 13th best song of the 1960s, while Rolling Stone lists it as the 41st greatest song of all time.
Cathy Smith's relationships with Canadian musicians didn’t end with The Band. Afterward, she began an affair with Gordon Lightfoot, despite his being married. Gordon eventually divorced and married Cathy, but their marriage was fraught with difficulties. It was marked by periods of domestic abuse and her drug addiction. However, their complex relationship also inspired Gordon Lightfoot’s only number-one song, 'Sundown.' Unfortunately, this was not enough to save their marriage, which ended in divorce in 1975.
After her marriage to Lightfoot dissolved, Cathy Smith entered yet another troubled relationship with a celebrity. In 1976, following The Band’s appearance on Saturday Night Live, Smith met John Belushi. He hired her as his personal drug dealer. In 1982, Smith administered a fatal dose of 11 speedballs, a deadly mix of cocaine and heroin, to Belushi, leading to his death. Smith was later convicted of involuntary manslaughter and served 15 months in prison.
7. Carl Magee
It might be hard to imagine, but there was once a US president who used his position to enrich himself and his associates. In the 1920s, Albert Fall, the secretary of the interior under President Warren G. Harding, was caught accepting bribes from oil companies in exchange for exclusive rights to drill on federal lands. This corruption and its cover-up became known as the Teapot Dome Scandal, widely regarded as one of the most significant scandals in the early 20th-century executive branch.
Carl Magee, an investigative reporter from Albuquerque, was the one who first uncovered the scandal. Magee was the first to notice the suspicious financial activity of fellow New Mexican Albert Fall, who, after years of bankruptcy, suddenly started paying off debts that had been overdue for a decade, all in $100 bills. Fall attempted to silence Magee, even having him arrested on fabricated charges. Before being jailed, Magee passed his findings to Senator Thomas Walsh, who was investigating Fall's finances. Six years later, Albert Fall became the first cabinet member to be arrested while in office.
After his work on the Teapot Dome Scandal, Carl Magee found himself in a confrontation with a corrupt judge he had been exposing through his reporting. During the altercation, Magee pulled out a gun, but tragically ended up killing an innocent bystander. Though he was acquitted, Magee decided to leave New Mexico and moved to Oklahoma City in 1927. Upon his arrival, Magee noticed a pressing issue: people were leaving their cars parked for long periods, taking up valuable parking spaces. Magee was tasked with finding a solution. After collaborating with engineers and plumbers, he introduced the first-ever parking meter in 1935. Called the “Park-O-Meters,” this invention solved the parking problem and helped local businesses attract more customers. It wasn’t long before parking meters spread to cities around the world, becoming an urban nuisance in many places.
6. Glenn Burke
When NBA player Jason Collins came out as gay in 2013, he was celebrated as the first openly gay professional athlete in one of the four major North American sports leagues. Just two years later, David Denson became the first openly gay active player in Major League Baseball. While their bravery in coming out was remarkable, Glenn Burke had already paved the way nearly 40 years earlier.
In the 1970s, Glenn Burke was the true first openly gay athlete in Major League Baseball, though neither the coaches nor the media acknowledged it. Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda even offered Burke $75,000 to marry a woman, a proposal Burke rejected. Eventually, Burke was traded to the Oakland A’s, where he played as a regular starter for the rest of the decade. However, he was never truly embraced by the team or the media. Faced with the relentless stigma, Burke retired from baseball in 1980. It wasn’t until 1982 that he publicly came out and shared his story with Inside Sports magazine.
While it was groundbreaking for Glenn Burke to be openly gay while playing with the Dodgers, he also achieved something even more iconic with the team. On October 2, 1977, Dusty Baker hit his 30th home run against the Houston Astros, making it the first time in MLB history that a team had four players with 30 or more home runs in a single season. To celebrate Baker’s milestone, Burke raised his hand, and not knowing how to respond, Baker slapped it. This spontaneous act is now widely regarded as the first-ever high five. Burke went on to popularize the gesture with the team, and thanks to his regular visits to the Castro District in San Francisco, the high five spread within the gay community before becoming a widespread cultural phenomenon.
5. Stanford White
Stanford White is remembered as one of the most inventive architects of the “American Renaissance” period, not for his personal failings. As one of the key figures at the prestigious architectural firm McKim, Mead & White, White played a pivotal role in designing several iconic landmarks across New York. Some of his most notable creations include Madison Square Garden, the New York Public Library, the Washington Square Arch, and the laboratory of Nikola Tesla at Wardenclyffe Tower.
Unfortunately, White’s remarkable legacy was overshadowed by his reputation as a womanizer, but his personal life contributed to a memorable pop culture moment. The tradition of placing animals inside pies has existed for centuries, famously appearing in the nursery rhyme “Sing a Song of Sixpence.” In 1895, Stanford White gave this quirky practice a new twist at a party hosted by McKim, Mead & White. He presented a large pie, and after singing the nursery rhyme, a scantily clad woman named Susie Johnson emerged from the pie. This event is considered the first documented instance of the now-famous stripper cake at bachelor parties.
At the same event, a young socialite named Evelyn Nesbit was present. In the years that followed, Nesbit and Stanford White began an affair, a situation that enraged Nesbit’s husband, Harry Thaw. In 1906, Thaw’s fury culminated in him shooting White dead in the middle of Madison Square Garden. This scandalous story, filled with wealth, betrayal, and murder, became a media frenzy. Thaw’s trial was dubbed ‘The Trial of the Century’ by the press. While the century was still in its infancy, this trial was the first to be given that title—a label later applied to many high-profile cases in the following decades.
4. Florence Lawrence
In the early 20th century, moviegoers would flock to theaters simply because a film starred the “Biograph Girl.” Florence Lawrence, though little known by name, appeared in nearly 300 silent films, and her fame was so great that she became the first actress to have her name appear in the opening credits of a film. Her popularity was unmatched at the time; during a tour to St. Louis, more people came to see her than when President Taft visited the city months earlier.
Her celebrity afforded her the opportunity to purchase one of the first cars. Coming from a family of inventors, Lawrence took it upon herself to make improvements to the vehicle. She pioneered early versions of the turn signal, brake lights, and windshield wipers. Although her turn signals were rudimentary attachments and not lights, they served their purpose by signaling other drivers when a turn was about to be made. Unfortunately, Lawrence failed to properly file the patent paperwork, so she never profited from her innovations, even though they eventually became commonplace in vehicles.
Her acting career came to an abrupt end soon after. In 1915, while attempting to rescue a fellow actor from a studio fire, Florence Lawrence fell and suffered a serious back injury. Her condition left her unable to continue acting, and a film shoot in 1916 left her paralyzed for four months. She made one final attempt to return to the screen in 1921, but by then, no one was interested in her work anymore. With no success from her inventions or her films, Florence tragically took her own life in 1938, living in poverty and enduring constant pain.
3. Edward Bernays
Edward Bernays, the nephew of the renowned Sigmund Freud, had an intimate understanding of the human psyche. While Freud delved into the complexities of the mind, Bernays used his insights to make a fortune. His 1928 book, Propaganda, became the cornerstone of public relations. The book demonstrated how institutions and corporations could shape public opinion, earning Bernays the title of the father of advertising. Despite being Jewish, Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels admired Bernays, claiming to have based his methods on Bernays’ teachings. Bernays’ tactics, however, have also been applied in more positive ways.
After publishing Propaganda, Bernays' first major assignment was to assist the Woodrow Wilson administration in framing World War I as the United States’ mission to bring democracy to Europe. Bernays also advised President Calvin Coolidge, pioneering the idea of presidents eating pancake breakfasts with ordinary citizens, a tradition that remains common today. In an iconic campaign, Bernays marketed Lucky Strikes cigarettes as ‘torches of freedom’ and arranged for them to be featured in fashion shows, dramatically increasing their popularity among women. He also helped popularize Dixie Cups by falsely claiming they were the only hygienic cup option. In addition to his commercial success, Bernays played a role in organizing the inaugural NAACP meeting.
Among all of Bernays' campaigns, the most controversial one was his work with Beechnut Packing Company. At the time, many Americans ate a light breakfast of fruit, milk, and cereal, but Bernays orchestrated a campaign where he hired doctors to promote the idea that a hearty breakfast was essential. This fabricated research led to the now-common practice of eating bacon and eggs for breakfast. It's a difficult question: should Bernays be remembered as the man who helped fuel the rise of the Nazis and contributed to millions of cases of lung cancer, or as the one who made bacon a breakfast staple?
2. Ziryab
Ziryab, born Abul-Hasan Ali Ibn Nafi, was a Persian polymath of the ninth century whose talents spanned many fields. Despite his origins as a former slave, Ziryab left a lasting impact as a musician, fashion innovator, and cosmetologist. Stationed in Spain, he acted as a cultural bridge between the Muslim world and Europe. One of his first notable contributions to European culture was introducing the lute, which he improved by adding a fifth bass string, forever changing the instrument’s design in the region. His academy in Cordoba, which trained many musicians, remains his most enduring legacy in music.
Thanks to his success and influence, Ziryab became a key figure in the Spanish elite. He shaped the tastes of the royal courts and was the first to champion the concept of seasonal clothing, suggesting lighter fabrics in the summer and thicker garments for winter. His position of power also led to many imitators. Ziryab himself maintained a well-groomed appearance with short hair and regular shaving, prompting Spanish nobility to follow suit. His use of an early form of deodorant and his regular tooth-brushing with a toothpaste precursor were practices that would later become widespread, originating with Spaniards eager to emulate Ziryab's habits.
Ziryab also transformed Spanish dining and cuisine. He introduced exotic fruits and vegetables, such as asparagus, to the royal tables. He was responsible for the idea of meals consisting of three courses: a soup, a main course, and dessert. While Europeans had been using metal drinking vessels for centuries, Ziryab introduced the idea of crystal glassware. Whether in fashion, food, personal hygiene, or music, Ziryab had an indelible impact on European culture.
1. Sarah Josepha Hale
Sarah Josepha Hale, the editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book, wielded more influence over American culture in the 19th century than any other woman of her time. She earned her position due to her renown as a writer. Her most iconic work, the nursery rhyme “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” is so well-known that it often feels as though it has no author at all.
As the first female editor of the magazine, Hale had the power to decide what content would be featured. A great admirer of Queen Victoria, Hale used her platform to introduce elements of the British royal lifestyle to America. One of her most notable contributions was a print showing a family gathered around a Christmas tree, which marked the first appearance of the Christmas tree in American homes, making it a popular tradition.
Sarah Hale’s influence was so powerful that she used her fame to build connections with key political figures, even speaking directly with President Abraham Lincoln. Both Hale and Lincoln were deeply concerned about the ongoing Civil War, but Hale had a different perspective on how to address it. She believed the war was a result of a moral decline and advocated for a return to the values of a bygone era. Drawing inspiration from the strict Christianity of the Pilgrims, she thought that family gatherings around a meal would help bridge the ideological divide that fueled the war. Her conversation with Lincoln ultimately led him to declare Thanksgiving a national holiday, uniting the nation under a common cause.
From making hand turkeys to waiting eagerly by the Christmas tree or singing about a lamb with fleece as white as snow, Sarah Hale played a major role in shaping many childhood experiences.
