I am a history nerd. That is not a secret. A lot of people think history is boring, but it depends on what it is. If you’re reading about George Washington in a textbook, yeah, can be boring. But lunatics, crazy people, and socially-inept creatures are always interesting.
Here are three noteworthy individuals (Sadly, for bad reasons):
1. William Walker–Walker was a lawyer and journalist who one day decided, like any sane person, that he would like to raise an army and take over a Central American country. So he did. In 1855, when he undertook the expedition, he had already conquered Baja California with an army of 45. No sweat. He needed more, so he raised an army of about 300 and took over Nicaragua. Literally. He was recognized as the President of the country for almost a year, before being forced out of office. When he tried to return to the area in 1860, he was executed.
2. Henry Rathbone–Trivia question: How many people in President Lincoln’s box at Ford’s Theatre were murdered? The answer? Two. (Another question you can ask is how many people in the box were later in a mental hospital–also two). Rathbone and his fiancee Clara Harris were in the box with Abraham and Mary, sitting next to them, when Booth killed Lincoln. They were powerless to stop him, although Rathbone did his best to disarm the assassin afterwords.
Sadly, that is not the end of the story. In 1883, Rathbone murdered Clara (and unsuccessfully tried to kill their children and himself). He spent the rest of his life in an insane asylum in Germany.
3. Charles Guiteau–Upset that he was passed over for the job as ambassador to France, despite the fact that he had no qualifications whatsoever, Guiteau did the country a favor (in his own mind) by murdering President Garfield. Guiteau had a history of rejection. He joined a sex cult, but nobody would sleep with him–they nicknamed him “Charles Gitout.” He managed to be a loser in just about every way possible. In the end, he managed to succeed in two things: killing the president, and being hung. But that’s about it.
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