Buzz
It's unfortunate that many people live their lives without leaving any significant impact on history. While we all desire to be remembered by those closest to us, our contributions often remain minor and fade with time.
Of course, there are some whose names will be etched in history forever. However, there are also countless unsung heroes, whose actions—whether intentional, accidental, or forgotten—transformed the world but whose names remain largely unknown. Whether due to oversight, circumstance, or deliberate obscurity, their impact is often overlooked.
Until now.
10. Nils Bohlin
In 1958, Nils Bohlin was employed by Volvo when he invented a groundbreaking design that has since saved countless lives—the seat belt. While basic lap belts had existed for some time, the introduction of the three-point safety belt marked a major advancement with its simple yet effective design. Bohlin was granted a patent for his innovation the following year.
Although there was initial reluctance from drivers who resented being told how to protect themselves, the three-point seat belt gradually became a standard feature in vehicles worldwide. While it’s impossible to determine the exact number of lives saved by this invention, it is estimated to be in the millions.
Buckle up!
9. Philo Farnsworth
In 1927, Philo Farnsworth successfully transmitted an image of a straight line through the air. By 1929, he had refined his invention enough to send a picture of his wife—a more thrilling, though slightly blurry, achievement. Though he referred to it as an “image dissector,” Philo had, in essence, invented the television.
So why did John Logie Baird receive the credit? Baird was also a television pioneer, but he was more business-savvy. He showcased the first color television in 1928.
Philo turned down several offers to sell his patents and instead started his own company. However, he struggled to compete with the large corporations entering the field, and his business eventually folded. Philo continued to be an inventor until his death in 1971, but never created anything as groundbreaking as television again.
8. Henry Dunant
Henry Dunant became the first recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1901.
While passing through Solferino, Italy, during the Second Italian War of Independence, Dunant was horrified by the immense suffering he witnessed. In 1862, he published a book titled A Memory of Solferino, which documented the efforts to care for the wounded on the battlefield. He also proposed a comprehensive plan.
Dunant suggested that nations around the world create their own relief organizations to assist the injured and train volunteers in effective medical treatment. He also called on governments to ensure that wounded soldiers would receive care and that those providing this care would be guaranteed safe passage.
Dunant traveled across Europe to promote his plan, and on August 22, 1864, twelve nations signed the first Geneva Convention, agreeing to “guarantee neutrality to sanitary personnel, expedite supplies for their use, and adopt a special identifying emblem—in virtually all instances a red cross on a field of white.”
Henry Dunant played a pivotal role in the creation of the first Geneva Convention, which has saved countless soldiers' lives worldwide. He also founded the Red Cross.
7. Tank Man
In 1989, a pro-democracy movement, largely led by students, occupied Beijing’s Tiananmen Square to call for political reform. However, on June 4, the Chinese military intervened. The government ordered the massacre of the students, with estimates suggesting over 10,000 protestors were killed in a brutal wave of violence, including soldiers using bayonets, firearms, and armored vehicles to crush the students.
The pro-democracy campaign had come to an end.
The human spirit, however, is unyielding. On June 5, as a line of tanks advanced toward Tiananmen Square once more, a solitary protestor, holding nothing but a shopping bag, stepped in front of the lead tank, halting its progress. The tank attempted to maneuver around him. Tank Man blocked its path again. And again. And again.
Eventually, the tanks turned off their engines, and the protestor climbed onto one of the tanks to speak with the soldiers.
The confrontation ended only when the man was pulled away from the tank and disappeared into the crowd. His identity remains unknown, and it’s unclear whether the hands that pulled him away belonged to Chinese police or to concerned friends trying to protect him.
Coverage of the event in China was severely censored, and few people there remember it today. Yet, whether he knows it or not, the image of Tank Man standing resolutely in front of a line of tanks has become one of the most powerful symbols of resistance worldwide. Perhaps one day, he will see it for himself.
6. Maurice Hilleman
Not all world-changing achievements require acts of bravery or sacrifice. Take Maurice Hilleman, for instance. Maurice found a different way to make an impact—by developing numerous life-saving vaccines.
He created the mumps vaccine after his daughter contracted the illness in 1963. He swabbed the back of her throat, drove to his laboratory in the dead of night, and discovered a method to turn that sample into the vaccine we use today. And that was just the beginning.
Maurice Hilleman went on to develop over 40 vaccines, including eight commonly administered to children to prevent diseases like measles, mumps, hepatitis A and B, chickenpox, meningitis, pneumonia, and Haemophilus influenzae. His work has undoubtedly saved millions of lives and prevented countless complications from these diseases. The MMR vaccine alone has been given to over a billion children worldwide.
All of this because his daughter got the mumps.
5. Witold Pilecki
Suspecting something sinister was occurring in Auschwitz, Witold Pilecki voluntarily allowed himself to be captured so he could gather intelligence for the Allies. While imprisoned, he ingeniously used a radio transmitter made from smuggled parts to communicate with the Polish Resistance, who then passed the information on to the Allies, exposing the horrors faced by prisoners.
Even more astonishingly, Pilecki later managed to escape from Auschwitz. He continued his fight with the Polish Resistance after his daring escape.
A fierce patriot, Witold Pilecki played a crucial role in the Warsaw Uprising of 1944, an effort to liberate Poland from Nazi occupation. After the uprising failed, Pilecki was once again captured and imprisoned in a POW camp, where he remained until the war's end.
Heroism seemed to run in Pilecki's veins, as he accepted yet another dangerous mission: to return to Poland and report on its occupation by the Soviet Union. Arrested by the secret police in 1947, he was convicted of espionage and executed the following year in 1948.
In 2006, Pilecki's unparalleled bravery in exposing the atrocities at Auschwitz was finally acknowledged by his homeland. The president of Poland awarded him the Order of Polonia Restituta and the Order of the White Eagle posthumously, recognizing his extraordinary courage.
He would have been proud.
4. Lewis Latimer
Lewis Latimer, the son of escaped slaves, was the draftsman who assisted Alexander Graham Bell in filing the patent for the telephone.
That’s impressive on its own, but Latimer's achievements didn’t stop there. In 1881, he patented a carbon filament for the incandescent light bulb. While Thomas Edison is widely credited with inventing the light bulb, he had only managed to make the bulbs glow for short bursts until that point.
Latimer’s carbon filament design revolutionized the light bulb, allowing it to stay lit for hours instead of minutes, making it far more practical.
But his contributions didn’t end there. Latimer was a trailblazer in the electric lighting industry and one of the founding members of the Edison Pioneers, a group that worked closely with Edison on advancing electric lighting. Of the original 100 members, Latimer was the only black man.
Latimer went on to invent several other groundbreaking devices, including a flushing train toilet and an apparatus that cooled and disinfected hospital rooms, significantly reducing hospital-acquired infections.
3. Henrietta Lacks
Henrietta Lacks would likely be astonished to find herself listed among those who changed the course of history. A poor tobacco farmer from Virginia, her passing went unnoticed by most, save for her children, family, and close friends.
Yet, Henrietta Lacks is the source of the HeLa cell line—her blood contained extraordinary, immortal cells capable of thriving outside her body for an indefinite period.
In 1951, after the birth of her fifth child, Henrietta sought treatment at Johns Hopkins University Hospital for a ‘knot in her womb.’ Doctors took a tissue sample, and it quickly became apparent that, unlike normal cells, Henrietta’s cells didn’t die after a few days—they kept growing, doubling every 20 to 24 hours.
Henrietta’s cells are present in the trillions in laboratories across the globe. Medical researchers have utilized them to study not only cancer but also diseases like hemophilia, influenza, leukemia, and Parkinson’s disease. These cells were instrumental in developing the polio vaccine, the cancer drug tamoxifen, chemotherapy, gene mapping, and many other medical advancements.
The HeLa cells show no sign of deterioration. In contrast, Henrietta Lacks herself passed away within months of her hospital admission due to a malignant tumor in her cervix. She was buried in an unmarked grave, unaware that her cells would go on to save millions and live forever. Henrietta’s resting place received a headstone in 2010.
2. Gavrilo Princip
Gavrilo Princip is undeniably a figure who altered the course of history. His assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand directly triggered the outbreak of World War I, setting in motion a chain of events that ultimately led to World War II as well.
Princip was born into extreme poverty in a Slavic region of Austria-Hungary, with little hope of escape. On June 28, 1914, at the age of 19, he fired two shots at the car of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, killing both the archduke and his wife.
This assassination triggered Austria-Hungary's invasion of Serbia, which quickly escalated into German invasions of Belgium and France. Just a month later, on July 28, the Allies declared war, sparking the start of World War I. The war would claim the lives of an estimated 18 million soldiers and civilians, with 23 million others wounded.
Too young to face the death penalty, Princip was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He died of tuberculosis in 1918, just before the war came to an end.
1. James Harrison
James Harrison has played a pivotal role in saving over two million lives.
Often referred to as the Man With The Golden Arm, James's blood contains a rare antibody capable of curing the fatal Rhesus disease in unborn babies. Having donated blood 1,173 times, a Guinness World Record, it's estimated his contributions have saved nearly 2.4 million infants.
At the age of 77, James was compelled to retire from blood donation, as this is the maximum age for donors in Australia, where he resides. Nonetheless, his blood has been crucial in the creation of a medicine, anti-D, which could potentially eradicate Rhesus disease in children forever.
+ Alfred Russel Wallace
Alfred Wallace, a British anthropologist and explorer, was ahead of his time. Long before Charles Darwin, Wallace had already written a series of articles discussing natural selection and the theory of evolution. So, why isn't the theory known as 'Wallaceism'? Wallace didn’t fit the typical image of a serious scientist. While deeply invested in natural science, he was also fascinated by socialism, spiritualism, and even believed in life on Mars.
It also seems Wallace wasn’t particularly shrewd. While bedridden due to illness, he had an epiphany about his theory. He jotted down his ideas and sent them to Darwin, hoping for help in publishing them. Darwin, working in the same field, read Wallace’s work and was alarmed. He quickly penned his own paper, and both works were presented to the Linnean Society in 1858.
However, Darwin used his connections to ensure his work was read first and followed it up by publishing a book on the topic, solidifying his position as the man who challenged God. Meanwhile, Wallace seemed content to continue traveling, studying, and writing about whatever piqued his interest.
Natural selection at work.
