Deception operations have been employed in warfare throughout history, with the earliest mentions being in works like Virgil’s Aeneid describing the Trojan Horse during the Trojan War. The Greeks invented smokescreens for use during the Peloponnesian War, and there are countless other examples of deception tactics that have both worked and failed. This list comprises some of the more important uses of deception that successfully tricked the enemy throughout the history of warfare.

10 Maskirovka
Russia, Battle Of Kursk, World War II

Maskirovka is a broad military doctrine of Soviet deception developed throughout the early 20th century. Its primary focus is denial, deception, and surprise. The practice utilizes several means of fooling the enemy, ideally suggesting to them that a smaller force is awaiting them “over the hill.”

It was most successfully employed at the Battle of Kursk during World War II, when a relatively large force of Germans unwittingly attacked what they believed to be a small force of Russian troops, which actually numbered more than four times their own. The Russian forces were able to achieve this, in part, by spreading rumors throughout their own ranks as to their capabilities and strength, which spread to the Germans through their counterintelligence collection means. Ammunition and supplies were moved only under the cover of darkness, while camouflage was utilized to conceal anything of military value. Additionally, the Soviets employed fake airfields, which enticed the Germans to bomb dummy aircraft, further confusing their assessment of the Soviet military strength and capabilities.

Prior to the battle, the Germans underestimated the Russians’ strength, thinking that they had fewer than 1,500 tanks and 400,000 men ready to fight. Unfortunately for German intelligence, the Russians’ deception worked, and they confronted more than 1.3 million fighting men, more than twice the estimated number of tanks, and nearly 3,000 aircraft. The resulting battle destroyed the German offensive and earned the Soviets their first victory against the Germans along the Eastern Front. For the remainder of the war, the Germans would be on the defensive all the way to Berlin.

The doctrine is still being used, most recently in the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and the taking of Eastern Ukraine.

9 Bluffing
England, Battle Of Fishguard, War Of The First Coalition

In 1797, during what has been called “The Last Invasion of Britain,” French Revolutionary forces crossed the North Sea and faced the British at the Battle of Fishguard, which wasn’t really a battle at all. Having previously landed successfully a few miles west of Fishguard with nearly 20 boatloads of troops, 47 barrels of powder, and 50 tons of cartridges and grenades, the French were ready to take the town.

France’s Commodore Castagnier sent a single French ship to reconnoiter the bay while flying the British colors. As soon as the ship was spotted by the British, they fired a single blank from a 9-lb gun. While the port had eight of these large cannons, they were severely understocked and had only three rounds. The French ship immediately hoisted the French colors and fled the bay. The British may have fired the cannon to signal the ship in some way, but regardless of their intention, they caused the French to reconsider their target and turn away from Fishguard. Had they not fired the initial blank to bluff the French scout ship, the port would likely have been taken.

8 Trojan Coffin
The Normans, Castle Siege

Many stories of the fabled 11th-century Norwegian King Harald Hardrada have been told throughout the years, detailing his bravery and ingenuity at combat. During his conquest on the road to becoming the king of Norway, Harald laid siege to an unnamed castle by camping outside and establishing his men for the upcoming battle. He also had erected a small tent a ways outside the main camp, where he lay sick and possibly dying. Before any battle took place, it was reported that the great king had perished from his illness, and his men ventured toward the castle to tell the news of their commander’s demise. They addressed a large gathering of priests and requested that they allow their fallen commander to be buried within the city.

The priests believed that they would receive rich gifts for accommodating the bereaved fighting men and acquiesced. They formed a large procession and took Harald’s ornate coffin into their castle, along with a small group of his men. Once they’d crossed the threshold and entered the castle grounds, Harald’s men immediately barred the gate, called the remaining men to battle, and the good King Harald himself leaped from the coffin and declared that everyone be killed. The castle was taken, and Harald’s legendary exploits continued toward the conquest of England.

7 Elaborate Hoax
Union Army, Reclamation Of The Indianola, US Civil War

After losing one of its most prized ships, the recently constructed ironclad USS Indianola, the Union Navy conducted the most successful hoax operation of the US Civil War. The Indianola was a considerably formidable vessel, though it was plagued with problems during its construction, and it saw several successful combat operations.

Attempting to pass the city of Vicksburg, the ship engaged in a battle against the Confederate Webb, which rammed the vessel, causing its starboard wheel and rudder to become inoperable. As the ship began to take on water, its captain, Lieutenant Commander George Brown, ordered it run ashore, where he quickly dumped the Union codebooks and surrendered to prevent a greater loss of life. The Confederates moved the Indianola to the eastern bank of the Mississippi and established a 100-man salvage crew accompanied by two pieces of field artillery in an attempt to salvage the valuable vessel.

Deciding to attempt a recovery operation, Rear Admiral David D. Porter ordered that an old coal barge be made to look like a larger ironclad intent on taking the Confederates: “It was built of old boards in twelve hours, with porkbarrels on top of each other for smoke-stacks, and two old canoes for quarter-boats; her furnaces were built of mud, and only intended to make black smoke and not steam. Painted on the side was the taunting slogan: ‘Deluded Rebels, cave in!‘ ” To ensure that the Confederates saw the vessel approaching, he launched it in broad daylight toward the Confederate defenses.

Seeing the “formidable vessel” approaching, the salvage crew first attempted to raise the Indianola before finally deciding to blow its magazines, scuttling the ship. The Indianola was eventually resurfaced and returned to the North toward the end of the war.

6 Fraudulent Document
Sultan Baybars, Capture Of Krak Des Chevaliers, The Crusades

Sometimes all it takes is a well-executed bluff to confuse and capture the enemy. During the Crusades, following more than a year of what can only be described as a peaceful siege, wherein Sultan Baybars’s (also spelled Baibars) army camped outside the castle of Krak des Chevaliers, using its resources without engaging, the time had come to engage the formidable fortress.

The castle was built to withstand long sieges. Its fortifications were almost twice the size of that of some European castles, and it featured a large moat, high walls, and a gate accessible only by a long, winding passage. While the sultan had a superior fighting force, which had successfully stood against the Mongols and won, the Hospitaller stronghold had the advantage of fortitude, and the fight would certainly be a bloody and costly one. Knowing this, Sultan Baybars, who by all accounts was a brilliant tactician, retreated and devised a plan that involved a single sheet of paper.

Baybars finally got to implement his plan in the most spectacular way in 1271 during the Eighth Crusade, when he delivered a letter to his enemy—from his enemy. After a ten-day siege that took down a portion of the outer wall of the castle, a letter drafted from the leader of the Hospitaller ordered the men inside the castle to surrender. The knights immediately capitulated and followed the orders of their leader by sending a party out to meet the sultan and arrange conditions for their surrender. The deception worked, and the castle was taken without the need for further siege or bloodshed, all due to a falsified signature at the bottom of a piece of paper.

5 Feigned Retreat
The Normans, Battle Of Hastings, Norman Conquest

The Norman Conquest of England in 1066 is a hotly debated battle in many historical circles. There is no consensus as to whether William II of Normandy, later called William the Conqueror, initiated a feigned retreat or an actual one. Whether or not the decision to withdraw his cavalry was made by William to engage the British doesn’t matter when you consider that no other feigned retreat has been as successful before or since that battle nearly 1,000 years ago.

During the battle, the British shield wall was established by the best men available and continuously held the line against the onslaught of William’s cavalry until finally, the cavalry turned and fled. As they withdrew from the shield wall, the men holding the line broke and followed them in one of the biggest blunders in military history. As they engaged, the cavalry—now able to hold their ground against a sparse force without horses—quickly fell back on their pursuers and devastated their ranks. Simultaneously, the remaining forces were engaged, and due to their weakened lines, they were quickly destroyed. The successful feigned retreat by the cavalry won the battle and brought about the end of Anglo-Saxon rule in England.

4 Baiting An Attack
US Army, Vietnam War

Oftentimes, the best deception operations are carried out due to accurate and timely intelligence that helps commanders to make decisions to thwart an enemy’s attack. Other times, this information has been used to bait an attack so that a counterattack can be implemented to achieve a positive result for the defensive force. This occurred during the Vietnam War, when the commanders of the 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Division, learned through intelligence that the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and elements of the People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN) were planning to attack an unnamed firebase as a test or probing operation.

Knowing this, the Americans established Diamond I Firebase 25 kilometers (16 mi) outside of Tay Ninh, an area that would make it enticing to attack. They placed ground sensors throughout the base and also reinforced it with a significant amount of artillery. The result: “Rather than the PAVN and NVA regiment having an easy battle, it was twice repulsed [and] suffered heavy casualties.” The attack took place on February 24, 1969, and cost the Vietnamese 118 soldiers and two captured.

3 Wolves In Sheep’s Clothing
British Royal Navy, World War I

During World War I, the German Navy maintained a highly successful fleet of U-boats (aka Unterseeboots) that operated in the Atlantic Ocean. While submarines were technically invented and used as early as the US Civil War, they did not see widespread use in naval combat until 1914, and the Germans were quite adept at being sneaky under the sea. The biggest problem that a surface vessel faced during this time was a complete inability to locate a U-boat. Sonar was developed very early in the war, but it wasn’t anywhere near as effective or efficient as it is today, so navies like the British and French utilized hydrophones, which had a short range and weren’t very effective if a U-Boat’s crew was well-trained and quiet.

Because of this, Q-boats were established. These were heavily armed vessels of all sorts that were “dressed” as merchant ships. Their job was to sail the seas and entice the U-boats to surface and attack only to find that their “prey” was much more skilled at defense than they originally thought. To further sell the deception, the ships would fly false colors would be flown, and when a U-boat approached, part of the crew, known as the “panic party,” would appear to abandon the ship. Once the submarine was in range, hidden guns were revealed, the White Ensign (the flag of the Royal Navy) raised, and the U-boat was sunk.

The use of Q-boats led to the sinking of ten U-boats, so it was successful, although most of its success came by forcing Germany to completely change how it conducted naval warfare—albeit too late for them to effectively win the war.

2 Left Hook
US And Allied Forces, Operation Desert Storm

Operation Desert Storm saw one of the most successful uses of deception via radio signals ever employed in warfare. The Iraqis’ attention was on an amphibious training maneuver by the United States Marine Corps, leading them to strongly believe that the Americans would invade along their coastline. They subsequently prepared for this eventuality.

Additionally, the 18th and 5th Corps Headquarters began their maneuvers through the desert in a massive flanking maneuver known as a “left hook,” where they were able to effectively outflank the Iraqis and attack while also blocking any avenue of retreat back into Iraqi territory from Kuwait. During these maneuvers, the Corps’s signals units broadcasted mimicked signals, which effectively made the Iraqis believe that the units were completely stationary.

As the units continued to move toward the Iraqi lines, the Iraqi forces moved away from them toward the coastline in order to repel their invaders. The result was a ground war that lasted only three days and caused the Iraqis to completely withdraw from Iraqi-occupied Kuwait. Most of their army surrendered to the Americans and Allied troops who had cut off their escape. After 100 hours of combat on the ground, President Bush declared a cease-fire and the successful liberation of Kuwait on February 27, 1991.

1 False Flag
Germany, Operation Himmler, World War II

Following Germany’s successful expansion into the neighboring countries of Austria and Czechoslovakia in 1938 and 1939, Hitler needed to continue to create Lebensraum (“Living Space”) for his idealized expansion of Germany. Hitler knew that he couldn’t easily get away with such expansion into the likes of Poland without the rest of the world raising a eyebrow, so he devised a false flag operation to allow for his entrance into the bordering nation.

Along the border town of Gleiwitz, several Jews were taken from a concentration camp and dressed in German border guard uniforms. They were taken to a nearby radio tower in Germany and shot and killed just outside the border of Poland. This action, which could become known as the Gleiwitz incident, along with 20 other less serious matters, were then used by the fuhrer’s propaganda campaign to forward his cause to take Poland.

Hitler immediately cited Polish aggression and invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, saying, “This night for the first time Polish regular soldiers fired on our own territory. Since 5:45 AM, we have been returning the fire [ . . . ] I will continue this struggle, no matter against whom, until the safety of the Reich and its rights are secured.” While it is certainly true that German aggression was ongoing up to this point, the war can be said to have officially begun with the invasion of Poland, since two days following the attack, Great Britain and France declared war on Germany.

Jonathan is an amateur graphic artist, illustrator, and game designer with a few independently published games through his game company, TalkingBull Games. He enjoys researching and writing about history, science, theology, and many other subjects.

Spinning a yarn, telling a tall tale, or flat out lying. Whatever you want to call it, these folks weren’t afraid to do it, and it didn’t prevent them from creating impressive legacies, being beloved, or amassing wealth.

10Benjamin Franklin

We may never know for sure what Benjamin Franklin meant when he (supposedly) said, “half a truth is often a great lie,” but we do know that he loved to tell a great lie. Despite this, he’s memorialized in art, history books, and even stuck on currency notes. Not bad for a cheating, lying, political opportunist!

Even most amateur historians agree Franklin lied about, after having a hunch about the true nature of lightning, experimenting on lightning with a kite and a key. It never happened, nor do most scientists believe it is even possible.^[1]

Besides this most famous of tales, Franklin was also among the first to deploy fake news to stir up passion in the people. Using a homemade printing press in 1782, he concocted, wrote, and printed an entirely fake newspaper, running a story about the discovery of teenage scalps on the frontier. The story was meant to arouse fear against the local Native American tribes and even included fake letters to the editor. It was picked up by the actual press, leaving Franklin to chuckle in his britches and brag to friends about how easily he had pulled a fast one on the poor American settlers.

9Frida Kahlo

While she isn’t known for being a liar, this artist is well documented for some blatant bending of the truth—and largely celebrated for being so unapologetic about it, rather than criticized for writing her own history

Frida told two bold, widely spread lies about her life. The first was that her father, Guillermo, was a German Jew, which he was not. While the claim spread far and wide (the feature film^[2] about her life even includes a scene where Guillermo refers to his background in this way), Guillermo was from a long line of Lutherans and only came to Mexico because he didn’t get along with his stepmother very well.

Frida also preferred to give a birthday that was not accurate. Although the artist was born in 1907, she said she was born in 1910, the year the Mexican Revolution began.

Who can point a finger? The artist lived most of her life in physical and mental agony and left an artistic legacy that very few individuals from her time can complete with.

8Frank Abagnale

Who can help (even secretly) cheering for Frank Abagnale? Not only did he get away with what are now considered to be horribly obvious hoaxes, he ended up a pretty wealthy dude because of getting discovered. That’s just some serious talent.

Abagnale is now most known for being portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio in the film Catch Me If You Can, about a teenage boy who figures out how to pull the wool over the eyes of everyone he comes into contact with, and spends the next six years doing just that. Abagnale’s most famous lies include: posing as a pilot at age 16, being handed a legitimate position as a medical supervisor at an ER at age 18, passing as a Harvard Law School graduate to obtain a job as an attorney in Louisiana, and seducing who knows how many older women into affairs.

Here’s the really good part: Abagnale ended up spending less than five years in prison before being hired by the FBI to consult on fraud cases in return for his release. Following this gig, Abagnale found it difficult to hold down a job, given his reluctance to disclose his criminal past to a long line of employers, and his entrepreneurial instincts once again came in handy. He founded the successful firm Abagnale & Associates, has had an Academy Award–nominated film and a Broadway play made about his life, and is a successful businessman with admirers around the world.^[3]

7Bill Clinton

You all know the story: Linda Tripp was out to get Clinton. She happened to record a friend of hers, the young and impressionable Monica Lewinsky, confiding in her about having a sexual relationship with Mr. President himself. Tripp turned over the tapes to the right people, and the morality of the nation was rocked to its core.

Instead of fessing up, President Clinton boldly, adamantly, and even under oath-y, denied the affair, only to recant and admit the entire thing later that year when it became clear that he would not be able to prevent truth from being exposed. Perhaps even more than being a liar, we can most accuse him of the worst ability to predict an outcome in American political history.

You have to hand it to Clinton. Despite the very public scandal, he came out on top (so to speak). He went on to be one of the most active and influential former presidents in history, founding the Clinton Foundation in 2001, partnering with multiple world leaders to help rebuild Haiti, authoring a best-selling autobiography, and being continually involved in successful environmental and humanitarian efforts domestically and abroad.^[4]

6Calamity Jane

No one can accuse Calamity Jane of lacking a bold streak. Orphaned at age 14, it appears she quickly decided she would do whatever it took to keep afloat, even if it meant telling a fib or two along the way.

Calamity Jane is memorialized in popular culture as the sidekick to Wild Bill Hickok and for being one of the Wild West’s original cowgirls. However, friends of Wild Bill’s claimed Hickok had very little interest in Jane as a friend and definitely didn’t consider her a sidekick.

Even Jane’s current Wikipedia page^[5] lists one of her occupations as a scout for the military. Jane loved to boast about this chapter in her life and that a Capt. Egan had given her the name “Calamity” after she saved him from capture. There is, however, no record of her ever having served under Egan, or any other general for that matter. It is, therefore, believed that Jane gave herself the name Calamity, along with most of the rest of her biography.

Although her lies are well documented and easily debunked, it hasn’t kept Jane from becoming one of the most beloved and famous figures from the Wild West, rivaling even her so-called partner in crime, Wild Bill Hickok.

5Pope Alexander VI

Pope Alexander VI, born Rodrigo de Borja is infamous for unabashedly making “the end justifies the means” his life motto (yes, he was born over 100 years before that term was invented, but that’s beside the point).^[6]

De Borja loved power, and in Italy in the late 1400s, the pope was pretty much as powerful as a human being could aspire to be. He also loved women and wasn’t about to let the pesky laws around sexual piety stand in his way. De Borja fathered four children by his long-term mistress Vannozza dei Cattanei, and though he denied his paternity at first, he was quick to legitimize all children once he was awarded the title of pope in 1492. De Borja is believed to have fathered five additional children by various women.

The Vatican was evidently a much different place in 1492 than it is today. Despite being out and proud about his many children, Pope Alexander had a pretty successful reign. While ruthless, he was known for favoring negotiation over war, was a fierce patron of the arts, and his children rose to power around Europe. Today countless books, plays, television shows, and even video games feature him as a force to be reckoned with.

4Herodotus

The Father of History may have had more of a taste for a good story than the facts, leaving some to now also refer to him as the Father of Lies.^[7]

Leaving a legacy for politicians to follow for the rest of time, Herodotus figured exaggerating the truth was the best way to make his side look better, and he would also be able to get away with it. His Histories included many exaggerations of the truth and outright lies, all for the purpose of enlarging the perception of Greek greatness. And while many like to view him as a pure scholar, others say his greater talent was perhaps relaying stories he had been told throughout his travels.

He remains one of the most notable figures in ancient history, and most memorialized as well. Herodotus’s image in sculpture form alone is found across the world, from New York City to Turkey to Greece. He must have been some performer.

3Henry VIII

Let’s face it, you don’t divorce your pious and devoted wife of 24 years, head up the Reformation, behead the woman you started it for shortly thereafter, and then marry another dame a week later without telling a fib or two along the way.

Wife #1 won’t disappear to make way for new, likely to-bear-strong-sons wife #2? Claim the marriage was invalid from the beginning and that you are just realizing it.^[8] Pope still refuses to grant you a divorce? Tell everyone that God wanted you to be the head of the church all along. Wife #2 doesn’t bear you a son? Tell everyone she’s a witch who is committing incest and have her head cut off. Ah the beauty of a lie of convenience.

Despite all this treachery, you can almost hear the people around King Henry saying “meh?” and shrugging their shoulders.

2Benedict Arnold

While he may be considered a Judas in American history, Benedict Arnold went on to lead a solidly successful professional life after being discovered as the biggest traitor ever to the American cause.

Arnold, who was born on American soil in 1741, was truly motivated by resentment and the promise of cash. Despite being an active figure of the American Revolution and ultimately becoming a celebrated war hero for nearly 10 years, he was convinced to jump ship and go undercover for the British army. Resentful over others being promoted faster than he was and that others got credit for his military chutzpah, Arnold must have given off the stench of a man ready to make a deal. By 1779, he had started plotting with the British Army with the agreement that cash and military command would be given in return.^[9]

Talk about poor execution. Arnold was quickly discovered when one of his cohorts was captured with written documentation of the plot. While the cohort was hanged for treason, however, Arnold escaped and managed to have solid careers in England, ranging from military service to exporting and property (though even in England he failed to ever gain much popularity).

His decisions didn’t sit well with American patriotism then or now. Following the discovery of his plot, the graves of his unknowing family members were destroyed. To this day, Benedict Arnold is demonized, and his name itself is a synonym for traitor. Yet not only did he achieve lasting fame—he always managed to come out on top in his dealings, and his three boys all had successful military careers.

1Robert Ripley

Believe him, or not?

The magic of Robert Ripley’s wild success might have been that he mixed lies that couldn’t be verified with outrageous facts that couldn’t possibly be made up. Combine that with an enormous dose of audacity, and you have the Believe It Or Not empire.

Ripley’s “discoveries” were from every category and place on the planet. In 2012, Vanity Fair listed just a few of his claims about fantastic people and freaks of nature he had encountered. The list includes: “men with horns on their heads, a child cyclops, an armless golfer, a fork-tongued woman. There were fish that climbed trees, wingless birds, four-legged chickens, peg-legged cows.” While much of what Ripley wrote about can be verified, a lot cannot, leading him to be introduced as the “World’s Biggest Liar” at speaking gigs during his lifetime. Ripley’s response: “It makes no difference what I say. You won’t believe me anyway.”^[10]

Given that he claimed his own dreams as sources for some of his discoveries, it’s easy to say that there was a lie or two told along the way, starting with the date of his birth up to the tree-climbing fish. Regardless, an empire was amassed in his name that continues to thrive today. Ripley Entertainment owns over 90 attractions around the globe that remain highly loved.

Janice Formichella is an American-born traveler of the world currently residing in Bali, Indonesia. She loves history, gin, girl talk, her bullet journal, and a good list. You can follow Janice and her adventures on Twitter and on Instagram.

It’s no secret that people with Down Syndrome are not always fully embraced by society. Even in the wealthiest, most advanced parts of the world, prejudice of this kind continues to persist, and doesn’t appear to be going anywhere anytime soon. But wherever there is prejudice, there are those who stand up against it, and the following are just 10 examples of people who have torn down barriers and broken glass ceilings for people with Down Syndrome all over the world.

See Also: 10 Epic Tales Of Survival Against All Odds

10 Ángela Bachiller—Politician

Ángela Bachiller kicked off her political career in 2011, when she began working at City Hall in the Spanish city of Valladolid. A member of the People’s Party, Bachiller spent over two years working as an administrative assistant in City Hall, before standing for election in 2011. Although Bachiller did not win a seat in that election, placing 18th for 17 available posts, she assumed office two years later when a corruption scandal forced Jesús García Galván to step down.

While some may attempt to downplay Bachiller’s success by pointing out that she didn’t win the election outright, it should also be noted that she very well may have, if people with Down Syndrome were allowed to vote in Spain. While there is no outright ban on people with intellectual disabilities voting, Spanish courts usually declare people with Down Syndrome as “incapacitated”. Intended to protect them from fraud and exploitation, such a ruling also revokes their right to vote, making it all the more impressive that Bachiller managed to hold a position when she couldn’t even vote for herself.^[1]

9Collette Divitto—Entrepreneur

Even without laws that explicitly forbid them from fully integrating into society, people with Down Syndrome consistently face an uphill battle in trying to do so. Collette Divitto discovered just how true this is when, despite finishing a 3 year cooking course at Clemson University in just two years, job interview after job interview was met with nothing but polite rejection.

Hellbent on entering the workforce, Collette took her most popular recipe, “The Amazing Cookie”, and founded Collettey’s Cookies. Initially working with a single grocery store, Collette gradually built up her client base, raising her profile with media appearances on CNN, MSNBC, CBS, GMA, BBC, and more, ultimately leading to a partnership with Lays Potato Chips. Collette now employs 13 people, and hopes to use her platform to reduce unemployment and poverty levels among people with disabilities.^[2]

8Jamie Brewer—Actor

Probably the most-famous person on this list, Jamie Brewer is an actor that many of you will recognise from her prominent and recurring roles in the American Horror Story series. Having worked in theatre for over a decade, Brewer skyrocketed to international fame when she made her TV debut portraying Adelaide “Addy” Langdon in the pilot of the hit horror show, and has been a regular fixture ever since.

In an interview conducted shortly after season one aired, Brewer said “the most difficult part of playing Adelaide is learning how to portray someone who isn’t always viewed acceptable to her mother and society. This is a new challenge for me”.

Since she started on the show, Brewer has worked on a number of TV shows & films, and is currently slated to play Princess Aurora (a.k.a. Sleeping Beauty) in a film series that takes old fairytales and gives a more active role to the leading ladies.^[3]

7Marte Wexelsen Goksøyr—Playwright

Born in Norway in 1982, Marte Wexelsen Goksøyr is a public speaker and disability activist, but she is most well-known for her work as a writer—more specifically, a playwright. Her most famous work is her interpretation of Cinderella, which is based on her own life, performed at one of Oslo’s most prestigious theatres, and features live music from the naughties pop band Hellogoodbye.

Goksøyr’s work made her the first woman to win The Bjørnson Prize from the Norwegian Academy of Literature and Freedom of Expression, and her version of Cinderella was even used as the basis of a scientific study that examined the differences in attitudes towards disabled actors between adults and children.^[4]

6 Judith Scott—Sculptor

Judith Scott (1943-2005) had exactly the kind of childhood you would expect from someone who became a world renowned artist. Judith’s parents chose not to acknowledge her condition, which was compounded by the fact that she had gone deaf, unbeknownst to anyone in her life. At seven years old, Judith’s twin sister Joyce woke up to find Judith had been taken to a care home, where her undiagnosed deafness meant she failed to qualify for any sort of classes at all.

Forbidden by their mother to visit Judith, Joyce spent much of her life working with children in need until, after a 35 year battle, she became Judith’s guardian and moved her to another institution. For years, Judith took almost no interest in any of the creative activities available there, until the day a guest teacher came in to give a class on fiber art.

Judith immediately took the the art form, taking all sorts of objects and wrapping them in threads and yarn. It was clear that her work went well beyond pure aesthetics, with the director of the institute saying that Judith was “learning to speak”. Much of her work clearly reflects the loneliness & isolation she experienced in childhood, with twins being a major theme as well.

After 10 years, Judith was given her first exhibition which, coupled with a book about her work, caught the attention and acclaim of the international art community. She soon became the subject of 4 documentaries in three languages, and to this day has permanent exhibitions in 12 museums across 6 countries.^[5]

5Madeline Stuart—Supermodel

Madeline Stuart is a professional supermodel who was born in Australia in 1996. After attending a Brisbane fashion show in 2014, Stuart decided she wanted to be a model and began training. The following year, her mother launched an online campaign, which quickly gathered steam, resulting in Stuart signing 2 contracts in one week.

Stuart’s career didn’t stop there, and she quickly racked up quite the collection of accolades, such as walking the catwalk in New York Fashion Week, Paris Fashion Week, London Fashion Week, and various other weeks and shows around the world. Stuart has also been profiled in both Vogue & Forbes, and has completed the Special Olympics triathlon three times.^[6]

4Pablo Pineda—DipT BA

Pablo Pineda is an actor and educator most well-known for being the first European with Down Syndrome to obtain a university degree, having completed both a Diploma in Teaching and a BA in Educational Psychology. In 2009, he won the Silver Shell Award at the San Sebastián International Film Festival for his role in Yo Tambien, a film about a university graduate with Down Syndrome. Despite the name, the Silver Shell award is actually the top acting prize at the festival, which is one of only 14 category A film festivals in the world. Upon returning to his native Malaga, Pineda was also presented with the Shield of the City by the local Mayor.

Although he still acts, Pineda wants to build a career in education, and is currently working on implementing an international strategy to increase employment opportunities for people with disabilities. Pineda is a regular guest speaker at universities across the world, has written multiple books, and has a TedTalk available to watch online.^[7]

3 Sujeet Desai—Musician

Sujeet Desai is a musician from Buffalo, New York who graduated from high school with a 4.3 GPA before graduating from Berkshire Hills Music Academy two years later. All in all, Desai can play seven instruments: Piano, violin, drums, Bb clarinet, Bass clarinet, trumpet, and saxophone. Two documentaries have been made about his accomplishments, and he has received major media attention throughout the years, featuring on shows such as The View, 20/20, The Oprah Winfrey Show, as well as in the Wall Street Journal & New York Times. His greatest accomplishment so far was his 2015 performance at Carnegie Hall, for which he received a standing ovation.

Needless to say, Desai has a Pantheon of awards to his name, including a number of Olympic medals. That, along with his musical ability, may be why he was chosen to give a solo performance at the opening ceremony of the 2009 Winter Special Olympics. He currently lives in New York with his wife Carolyn, and is working towards earning a second performance at Carnegie Hall.^[8]

2 Karen Gaffney—Athlete

In 1977, Jim Gaffney held his 9 month old daughter Karen, and blew air in her face. Once her lips were closed, he placed her briefly underwater, in the hopes that he could gradually improve her breathing and muscle tone. This unusual idea proved to be a bit of a Moana moment for Karen, who has gone on to enjoy an incredibly successful career as a swimmer.

In addition to winning two gold medals in the Special Olympics, Karen was the first person with Down Syndrome to complete the English Channel relay race, but even then her career was just getting started. Since crossing the channel, she has also conquered Boston Harbor, San Francisco bay (16 times and counting), Lake Champlain, Dun Laoghaire Harbor, and the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon. In 2007, she was the focus of the Documentary Crossing Tahoe: A Swimmer’s Dream.^[9]

1 Isabella Springmuhl Tejada—Designer

From an early age, Isabella Springmuhl Tejada followed in the footsteps of her grandmother, who was also a designer. As a child, Isabella would create clothes for her dolls, but play eventually turned into work when she enrolled in a fashion course, where she began working on clothes inspired by Guatemalan culture, as well as designs aimed specifically at people with Down Syndrome.

Springmuhl had her first big showcase in 2015, where she sold her complete collection. The success of her show garnered international attention, and a second exhibit was quickly set up in Panama. Her momentum continued to build, and in 2016 her designs were shown at London Fashion Week, which was followed by another exhibit in Rome. All of this landed her a spot in the BBC’s 100 Women list, an annual collection of the most inspirational and influential women in the world, alongside the likes of Alicia Keys, Simone Biles, and Zoleka Mandela.^[10]

About The Author: Simon has entered his final lap of being a 20-something year old, but still loves Irish stereotypes and potatoes.

One of the worst feelings for movie fans is the one of being disappointed by a movie they were very excited to see. But, the reverse feeling is probably one of the most satisfying ones: when everybody expects a movie to be awful, but end up being proven wrong with a pure delight on screen that turns into a box office hit, at times even starting franchises. So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at 10 highly successful movies everyone expected to fail:

10 Of The Most Sought-after Lost Films

10 Project X (2012)

On November 2, 2011, a trailer for a movie no one had ever heard about, titled “Project X”, dropped on the internet. The trailer, about a trio of unseen high school students who decide to throw a party that ends up getting widely out of their control, went viral overnight on social media. While it looked fun, excitement for the release was mild, because nobody seemed to see how a film about one single party could be interesting to watch for 90 minutes. It looked like a suicide project, especially since all the actors in the movie were unknown faces, and Warner Bros was mocked for months by industry people. And then… the movie came out.

“Project X” became one of the most successful movies of that year, bringing in over $100 million on a $12 million budget. Despite being notoriously despised by older critics, who slammed it for being obscene and misguided, it proved to be incredibly popular amongst teenagers and people in their early 20’s, who were the direct target audience. The fantasy of the craziest house party of all time was an absolute blast for young audiences around the world, and “Project X” has since become a beloved staple of millennial pop culture. A sequel titled “Project XX” was even put in the works at Warner Bros mere weeks after the film’s release, but it eventually died in development hell.

9 Bad Moms (2016)

The trailer for “Bad Moms” was not very inspiring. On the surface, it looked like a tired rehash of a number of comedies that had come before, and despite a great cast, including the likes of Mila Kunis, Kathryn Hahn and Kristen Bell, people did not seem to be that interested in seeing what this film had to offer, and box office predictions for “Bad Moms” were fairly low, especially considering that the film’s production was somewhat troubled. So the surprise was real when the movie came out and became an absolute hit overnight.

“Bad Moms” brought in almost $200 million at the box office, which represents approximately 10 times its budget. Its success is entirely due to incredible word of mouth, as audiences were pleasantly surprised with how good the movie was, despite not being groundbreaking. In fact, it made so much money that a sequel, “A Bad Moms Christmas”, was greenlit in a matter of days, and was released in theatres less than a year later.

8 Edge Of Tomorrow (2015)

“Edge Of Tomorrow” is now known in Hollywood for being the movie with one of the most botched marketing campaign in recent memory, which probably explains why people had such little faith in the movie as a whole. The entire build up to the movie was confusing that most people weren’t even sure what the title of the movie was. Some called it “Edge Of Tomorrow”, some called it “Live, Die, Repeat”, and others knew it as “All You Need Is Kill”. As a result, audiences lost interest, and paired with the uninspired trailers, most people thought it would be a subpar science-fiction dud not that worth watching.

But, “Edge Of Tomorrow” came out, and it was a real slap in the face to everyone who saw it. It absolutely blew audiences away, as it revealed itself to be a highly entertaining movie with a story infinitely more compelling than the trailers made it appear to be. While box office predictions for the film foresaw a financial failure, the incredible word of mouth coming out of audiences saved it, as it ended up grossing a decent $370 million, enough to warrant an announced sequel currently in development.

7 IT (2017)

It’s easy to forget today that, prior to its arrival in theatres, Andy Muschietti’s latest adaptation of Stephen King’s “IT” was mostly mocked by people on the internet. When Entertainment Weekly debuted a first look at Bill Skarsgard’s incarnation of the terrifying Pennywise, it became the laughing stock of social media, and everyone was ready for this movie to be bad and to crash and burn at the box office. But then…the first trailer was released, and everyone stopped laughing.

The rest, as they say, is history. “IT” took over the world in a matter of seconds, and audiences became obsessed with the movie before it even came out in theatres. And when it finally made its way on screens, it broke records and grossed over $700 million dollars at the box office, with an eventual sequel that took the franchise beyond the billion dollar mark in mere weeks. Impressive, given how low the expectations were for this movie.

6 Gone Girl (2014)

When the first trailer for “Gone Girl” dropped on the internet, it looked like your quintessential American thriller, with nothing too special to show for. While it didn’t look bad in any way, nobody had high expectations for the movie, and most people expected it to be one of those minor box office crime thrillers to come and go largely unnoticed, in a studio’s effort to make a quick buck.

However, when “Gone Girl” came out in theatres a few months later, it suddenly seemed like it became the only thing people could talk about. The film was buzzing all over the globe, and it took over the internet in spectacular fashion, thanks to a particularly clever twist on the genre that widely subverted expectations. Everyone was talking about it, and it became a box office hit, bringing in $370 million worldwide, which effectively made it one of the most profitable movies of that year.

Top 10 Incredible Movies With Ambiguous Endings

5 Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)

“Kingsman” was not exactly a well known property prior to its 2014 movie adaptation. The Mark Millar graphic novel was released in 2012 and was quickly picked up by 20th Century Fox for a film version, with Matthew Vaughn tagged in to direct. The trailer eventually arrived, and the reaction was…mild.

It’s safe to say that the trailer didn’t exactly do justice to the actual film. At first glance, “Kingsman: The Secret Service” appeared to be nothing more than a brainless and absurd comedy with a higher budget than usual, and since an overwhelming majority of people had no idea it was based on a graphic novel, nobody could form any kind of expectation or excitement. In other words, based on the trailer alone, the movie had nothing to stand on.

But when the movie hit theatres in 2014, it became a crazy sensation all around the world almost instantly, going on to gross half a billion dollars at the box office and kickstarting a franchise set to be around for the next 5 to 10 years. The movie has since solidified its place in pop culture, and many consider it to be a modern classic.

4 21 Jump Street (2012)

The idea of a “21 Jump Street” reboot in movie form used to seem like a crazy idea, and when it was officially announced to be in development, most people in Hollywood thought the movie would be dead on arrival. At the time, actor Channing Tatum was not exactly a respected figure in Hollywood, mostly seen as a heartthrob type who only succeeds at exciting teenage girls, and no one believed he would have the ability to carry a comedy, even if paired with Jonah Hill.

But, in an amazing twist of events, “21 Jump Street” turned out to be one of the most beloved comedies of the decade, and made a substantial amount of money at the box office, prompting Sony Pictures to make a sequel, “22 Jump Street”, 2 years later. Combined, the movies have grossed over $500 million at the box office

3 Casino Royale (2006)

When “Casino Royale” came around the corner, the James Bond franchise was at an all time low. The previous entry, “Die Another Day”, was absolutely despised by critics and audiences alike, and fans were absolutely disappointed to find out this dud was also the exit of Pierce Brosnan as Bond. And when Daniel Craig was then announced to be the next actor to take on the role, all hell broke loose. People hated the casting choice, mostly due to Craig being blonde, but paired with the terrible reception of the previous movie, and the uproar following the casting of the new Bond, everyone assumed the franchise was done for.

As we now know, “Casino Royale” is now considered by many to be the best James Bond movie ever made. The movie was an absolute smash hit, and Daniel Craig solidified himself as one of the greatest incarnations of the 007 agent, becoming the actor to play him for the longest time out of all of them. After 15 years in the role, his final movie “No Time To Die” will mark the end of an era for the franchise, and it all started with a movie everyone expected to be the doom of the James Bond series.

2 Iron Man (2008)

Today, it would be almost laughable to even think that a Marvel movie could fail. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is now the highest grossing franchise in History, with the epic finale of its initial saga, “Avengers: Endgame”, having become the most successful movie of all time — not only is it the first movie to gross over $300 million in the US and Canada during its opening weekend, it is also the only movie to ever gross $1 billion worldwide in its first week. Ironic, when we know that the MCU’s original film was considered to be a huge risk.

Very few people believed in “Iron Man” during its production process. The character was not a household name, the budget was deemed to be way too big compared to what they believed it would make at the box office, and to top it all off, Robert Downey Jr playing the hero was considered to be controversial, as he was coming out of years of troubles with justice and drug addiction, making him a gigantic liability in the eye of the studio. But director Jon Favreau fought for his project vigorously, and proved everyone wrong by the delivering an absolute hit of a movie, bringing in $585 million at the box office, and securing Marvel a colossal franchise moving forward.

1 John Wick (2014)

It’s crazy to think that, back in 2014, Lionsgate was so convinced that “John Wick” was going to be a failure that they only released the first trailer for the movie a mere 27 days before its release. They buried it as much as possible, believing that the movie would only be considered another failed Keanu Reeves action B movie that people would not pay attention to. But, to their absolute surprise, “John Wick” arrived in theatres and became an instant classic that spawned one of the biggest action franchises of the 21st century.

The John Wick movie series has now grossed over half a billion dollars at the box office and has two more films to go to complete its story, which will be shot back to back as one giant film. And given the fact that each movie has made more money than the previous one, it isn’t crazy to think that the John Wick franchise is on its way to cross the billion dollar mark at the box office, which would make it one of Lionsgate’s five most successful franchises of all time, especially when taking in consideration that a spinoff movie titled “Ballerina” and a spinoff TV series titled “The Continental” are currently in the works.

Top 10 Worst Movies From The Top Genres

When a new gadget or technological marvel is introduced, people often describe it as something that will change the world. Maybe it will transform business, travel, or communications. But one thing’s for sure: It will be around for a long time.

Of course, very little gets that far. Most inventions that start out strong ultimately die out. These 10 brands and inventions were massively successful at first. But once the public’s interest in their novelty died out, these items bit the dust, too.

10 Inventions That People Really Regretted Inventing

10 TiVo

In the dark days before devices like TiVo were introduced, it wasn’t easy to record live television. And just forget about pausing it to go to the bathroom or grab a snack. TiVo changed all that with its introduction of digital video recorder technology, which revolutionized how we watch television.

With a TiVo attached to your TV, you could record multiple channels at once, making it almost impossible to miss a favorite show. Even more impressive, the system made it possible to skip commercials, a feature that everyone appreciated.^[1]

TiVo’s branding was so successful that it became a verb. People would say that they “TiVo’d” something to watch later. Unfortunately, it was not to last. As digital technology continued to grow, DVRs became largely unnecessary.

TiVo adapted to the times, albeit slowly, and saw its market share drop considerably. Then, in 2016, Rovi picked up TiVo for a cool $1.1 billion and changed Rovi’s company name to TiVo Corporation.

As the new TiVo Corporation focused on licensing its technology rather than producing hardware, it became an attractive takeover target itself. In 2020, TiVo Corporation completed a $3 billion merger with Xperi Corporation, a firm that specialized in licensing tech and intellectual property. The new company is called Xperi Holding Corporation.

The combined entity will continue to use the TiVo brand for consumer-facing digital entertainment products and services. But not the original TiVo digital video recorder that so many of us knew and loved. That’s a tech dinosaur wiped out by the asteroid of progress.

9 Google Glass

Google Glass debuted with a massive amount of media attention and buzz in 2012. The company’s flashy product demo included skydivers streaming their jumps through the device.

The product was marketed as much for its novelty and exclusivity as for its technology, and the public ate it up. So-called “Glass Explorers” were given a chance to demo a prototype for one month before it was made available to the public. Tech enthusiasts clamored for their set.

Google Glass had an integrated 5-megapixel still/720p video camera. However, that core feature was also a significant problem. Privacy concerns arose when the product first became popular as the device was technically violating existing privacy laws in some areas.

Another major factor in ending Google Glass was its hefty $1,500 price tag. All the fanfare and widespread public interest in the device died out rather quickly. By 2015, Google Glass was effectively dead as a consumer electronic device.^[2]

8 Myspace

At one time, almost everyone with an Internet connection had a Myspace page. The social media platform was the first of its kind. From 2005 until 2009, it was the largest in the world and boasted more than 100 million users per month. In 2005, it was purchased by News Corporation for $580 million.

Myspace was as ubiquitous then as Google and Facebook are now, and it was a moneymaking machine. In 2008, the company generated $800 million in revenue. It was valued at $12 billion at its height, making it one of the largest Internet tech companies on the planet. But it wasn’t to last.^[3]

Despite being an influential innovator in the realm of social media, Myspace saw a marked decline in users in 2009 and beyond. Facebook came out of nowhere to supplant Myspace as the go-to social media network, and that’s remained true for more than a decade.

Myspace was sold in 2011 to Specific Media Group and Justin Timberlake via a joint purchase for $35 million. The sharp decline in the company’s valuation couldn’t have been more apparent. Technically, Myspace is still around. It does generate ad revenue but far less than at its peak.

7 Pebble

Although many people reading this are probably wearing an Apple or Samsung smartwatch, there’s a chance that someone is wearing a Pebble. Back in 2012, Pebble became the most funded Kickstarter product of all time when its creators raised $10 million on the platform.

At the time, smartwatches were just beginning to surface on the market. Through the Kickstarter campaign, Pebble was able to cultivate a massive following. The influx of money made it possible for the company to innovate its concept further, and backers began receiving their watches in early 2013.

From there, the company launched more watches directly to the public and even initiated another Kickstarter campaign in 2015 that generated $20.3 million. Pebble was making money and looked to solidify its place in the smartwatch marketplace.

By the following year, Pebble was all but gone. Financial issues necessitated the return of funds received via Kickstarter, and everything was shut down by December 2016.

Fitbit purchased the company’s intellectual property, and Pebble is now defunct. Pebble failed due to lack of capital and Apple’s entry into the marketplace, which siphoned off Pebble’s customers even as Apple expanded the market.

But from the ashes of Pebble rose the phoenix of Rebble. Ex-employees, fans, and developers congregated on GitHub to replace the web services formerly provided by Pebble for their smartwatches. Although the original Pebble hardware will eventually die, this motivated coterie of “rebbles” intends to create a RebbleOS to run on a future version of watch hardware.

Rebble’s competitive advantage is unclear at this point. The group’s inspiration, Pebble, was initially meant to compete at a much lower price point than Apple products. Also, as developer Joshua Wise explained:

The Apple Watch . . . and Android Wear wanted you to interact with them, to make them the center of your life. The Pebble wants to not at all be part of your life, up until it does something useful for you, and then it lets you go back to your life.^[4]

6 Nintendo Virtual Boy

Nintendo has created some of the world’s most innovative ways to play video games. The company brought back the video game industry following the market crash in the early 1980s, but not everything made by Nintendo is worthwhile. The Wii U, for example, was a massive failure. But it barely registers when compared to the disaster that was the Virtual Boy.

In 1995, Nintendo released one of its strangest, most uncomfortable, and most terribly designed products of all time in the Virtual Boy. The device was marketed as a virtual reality style of gaming, but it wasn’t virtual at all. Instead, it offered stereoscopic 3D glasses, similar to those found in movie theaters, to display 32-bit red graphics.^[5]

Players would lean into the head-mounted system and play with the attached controller. The system used a parallax effect to simulate the illusion of depth, but all it really did was give players a pounding headache.

When it was released, the Virtual Boy was touted as an innovation in virtual reality gaming. But the system was terrible. It hit the market in an incomplete state because the company wanted to focus on the Nintendo 64. Only 22 games were made, and the system was canceled within a year.

Top 10 Short-Lived Inventions That Changed The World

5 Napster

People have been illegally copying software ever since it was possible to do so. The same is true of digital music, which rose in popularity during the 1990s thanks to MP3s. People downloaded and shared this music widely on multiple platforms. But the most popular one was Napster.

The company was founded in 1999 and became the primary source for peer-to-peer file sharing online. At its peak, this wildly popular software had around 80 million registered users. Of course, it wasn’t without controversy. Napster became the target of legal concerns when Metallica sued.

The band was followed by Dr. Dre and others, but the publicity only served to increase Napster’s use. Most cases were settled out of court. But one made it through the legal system to nail the platform with hefty fines and an injunction, which caused the company to shut down in 2002.^[6]

Once the fines were paid, Napster came back online and eventually sold its assets to Bertelsmann for $85 million. Several years later, Best Buy acquired Napster for $121 million, but the company has since been sold to MelodyVR.

As of 2020, their strategy has shifted away from a direct-to-consumer model. Instead, the new company appears to be delivering music streaming through business partners who may white label the service. Think of it like your grocery store selling products to you under their store name when the goods are actually manufactured by other companies. As of this writing, zombie Napster is doing that with music streaming.

4 MapQuest

Before everyone had a GPS tracker in their pockets, people used an archaic technology known as a paper map to get around. Until the 21st century, most people had a map or two in their cars at all times, but MapQuest changed all that—sort of.

MapQuest went online in 1996, and it offered free mapping services to its customers. People could go to the website, enter their destination, and print out a map with step-by-step instructions on how to get there.

Before MapQuest became popular, a person could only rely on someone else’s directions to find their way or use a road map to determine their route in advance. MapQuest was innovative and widely used. AOL purchased the company in 2000 for $1.1 billion.^[7]

By 2008, most people who had previously relied on MapQuest for guidance shifted to using other programs. Google Maps took over the marketplace, and MapQuest mostly disappeared, having been supplanted by GPS tech.

Granted, MapQuest did adapt to GPS. Although the company continues to make a small profit, it’s far short of where it was at the turn of the century.

3 PalmPilot

These days, a cell phone is less a phone and more an incredibly small and powerful computer that happens to make phone calls. Back in the ’90s, however, the concept of a computer in the pocket was considered far-fetched—that is, until the PalmPilot was launched.

In 1996, the original PalmPilot Personal Digital Assistant was released. Consumers marveled at its incredible capabilities, which seem antiquated compared to what’s available today. The original Palms didn’t have backlit screens and were limited by a maximum of 512 KB of RAM and serial communications ports.

Although these devices were comparably archaic, they were technological marvels for the time. The public ate them up. PalmPilots made it possible to organize schedules, send and receive email (eventually), send things to printers, and take notes. So they were highly valued in the world of business.

The company survived into the 21st century, but Palm technology was quickly surpassed by advancements in smartphones. HP acquired Palm in 2010 but destroyed it by 2011.

Then HP sold the Palm trademark to Chinese conglomerate TCL. They’re trying to revive the Palm brand, but it holds little sway in the marketplace as few people are looking to replace their smartphones with a Palm.^[8]

2 Betamax

Today, with the push of a button, you can watch almost anything at any time. But it wasn’t always like that. Released in 1975, the first product that let a large number of consumers record and watch programs later was the Betamax.

The following year, JVC’s rival format, VHS, was introduced. Even after that happened, Sony’s Betamax technology was the gold standard in video recording and playback. It revolutionized how people consumed television in the 1970s and early ’80s.

As VHS was a competitor, the legendary “videotape format war” broke out between Sony and JVC to determine which would dominate the marketplace. Betamax had superior recording quality with 250 lines vs. VHS’s 240. But in the end, that didn’t matter. Cost became the most important factor.^[9]

Despite being a superior format, Betamax lost the videotape format war simply because the equipment was more expensive. Consumers wanted something more affordable, and that’s what they got in VHS.

Betamax is long since defunct as a recording technology. For a time, though, it was one of the most innovative and important media technologies ever invented since the television. These days, few people under 40 know much about it. But the same could be said of VHS as time goes on.

1 Segway

In 2001, Dean Kamen introduced the world to the Segway, a two-wheeled, self-balancing personal transportation device. The so-called “human transporter” was arguably an incredible invention. It offered a means of commuting within an urban environment in an innovative way.^[10]

The Segway became a pop culture icon almost immediately. It was featured in an episode of South Park and many other shows and movies. Steve Jobs once called it “as big a deal as the PC,” which was high praise coming from him. Later, he retracted his statement by saying the Segway “sucked.”

Still, the Segway was a big deal initially. With its recharge time of four to six hours and a top speed of 16 kilometers per hour (10 mph), it was a handy device. Although the public liked the Segway, it was prohibitively expensive, costing around $5,000 or more for a new unit.

Instead of becoming a new mode of transportation for people in the city, Segways became the new way that security personnel got around. There are also Segway tours in many cities. But the product never managed to become the next personal consumer electronic device. Segway was discontinued in 2020.

10 Accidental Inventions That Changed The World

About The Author: Jonathan is a graphic artist, illustrator, and writer. He is a Retired Soldier and enjoys researching and writing about history, science, theology, and many other subjects.

Highly successful people have unique morning routines beyond conventional breakfast and exercise. From industry leaders to renowned artists, these individuals use the early hours for creativity, focus, and personal growth. Their uncommon practices may inspire you to reevaluate your morning routine for increased productivity and clarity. Come with us as we explore ten morning routines of highly successful people.

Related: Top 10 Ways Binge-Watching Is Ruining Your Health

10 Prep the Night Before

Preparing the night before can set the stage for a better morning with reduced stress and smoother decision-making. The former American Express CEO, Kenneth Chenault, spends his evenings preparing for the following day to free up his mornings for meaningful work.

Here are some helpful things you can do to prepare the night before:

• Plan your outfit: Decide what you’ll wear the next day and lay out your clothes, including accessories and shoes. This simple step can save time and reduce decision fatigue in the morning.
• Pack your bag or work essentials: If you have a specific bag for work, school, or the gym, ensure it’s packed with all the necessary items you’ll need for the next day. This may include your laptop, notebooks, chargers, gym clothes, and other essentials.
• Prepare your meals: Prepping meals or snacks in advance can save time and ensure you have nutritious options.
• Set up your coffee or tea: If you enjoy a hot beverage in the morning, prepare your coffee maker or tea kettle the night before, so all you need to do is press a button or turn on the stove in the morning.

9 Naturally Wake-Up

There’s something truly special about waking up to the natural world around you. Instead of being jolted out of sleep by an alarm clock or a loud noise, you can ease into the day with the soft sounds of birds chirping, the gentle rustling of leaves in the wind, and the warm glow of the sun’s first rays. It’s an experience that instantly connects you to the natural world and sets a peaceful tone for the rest of your day.

When you wake up naturally, you also allow your body to adjust to its natural rhythms. Your body knows when it’s time to wake up and when it’s time to sleep, and by following those natural patterns, you can improve your overall health and well-being. Natural wake-up times can help regulate your circadian rhythm, the internal clock that regulates your sleep-wake cycles, and give you the energy and focus you need to tackle the day ahead.

Some successful people, such as Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Arianna Huffington, swear by getting at least eight hours of sleep each night and waking up naturally without an alarm. Try opening your curtains before bed to let the morning light in or setting a gentle alarm clock that gradually increases in volume to mimic the sound of a natural wake-up call. You may find that waking up to the natural world around you is just what you need to start your day off on the right foot.

8 Beat the Sun

Some successful people, like Apple CEO Tim Cook and former First Lady Michelle Obama, wake up well before dawn to have a quiet and productive time before the day begins.

Waking up before dawn can have several health benefits, including:

• Improved focus and productivity: Waking up early can help you feel more focused and productive throughout the day.
• Better sleep: Getting up at or before sunrise can reset your circadian clock and help lower and stabilize blood sugar, leading to better sleep.
• Healthier diet: Waking up earlier provides more time to prepare a healthy breakfast, which has been shown to improve energy levels throughout the day.
• Regulated hormones: Waking up early helps regulate your circadian rhythm, which can lead to better hormone regulation and metabolism.
• Lower levels of depression: Studies have shown that people who wake up early tend to have lower levels of depression.

It’s important to note that waking up early may not benefit everyone. People who are extreme night owls and don’t get enough sleep may end up exhausted if they force themselves to wake up early.

7 Meditate, Reflect, and Be Grateful

Starting the day with a few moments of meditation, reflection, or gratitude can set the tone for a positive and productive day. Some successful individuals, like Richard Branson and Tony Robbins, start their mornings by writing in a journal, setting intentions, or expressing gratitude.

By incorporating these three practices into our morning routine, we can cultivate a sense of peace and purpose that can carry us through the rest of the day.

• Meditation can help clear the mind and bring a sense of calm and focus.
• Reflection allows us to think about our goals and priorities and consider any adjustments we may need to make.
• Expressing gratitude for the good things in our lives can help shift our mindset toward positivity and abundance.

6 Stay Away from Your Phone

Like many of us, you may find yourself reaching for your phone and scrolling through social media as soon as you wake up. However, it’s advisable to avoid checking your phone, email, or social media to minimize stress and increase productivity. This is a routine followed by Arianna Huffington, founder of Thrive Global.

Staying off social media can have several health benefits, including:

• Improved mental health: Taking a break from social media can reduce anxiety, depression, and stress levels.
• Better sleep: Social media use can interfere with sleep quality.
• More meaningful relationships: Spending less time on social media can free up time for more meaningful face-to-face interactions.
• Improved self-esteem: Social media can contribute to feelings of low self-esteem and negative body image, so staying off it can improve self-esteem and body image.
• Reduced exposure to negativity: Social media can be a breeding ground for negativity and conflict, so staying off it can reduce exposure to these negative influences.

5 Pick Up a Book

Incorporating reading a book into your morning routine can be a transformative habit; just ask former U.S. president, Barack Obama. Starting your day with a few moments of reading allows you to nourish your mind, expand your knowledge, and ignite your creativity before the bustle of the day begins.

Whether fiction, non-fiction, or inspirational literature, immersing yourself in a book sets a positive tone, providing mental clarity and focus for the challenges ahead. Moreover, reading stimulates the brain, promoting better daily concentration and memory.

4 Embrace the Cold

Cold therapy, also known as cryotherapy or cold water therapy, involves exposing the body to cold temperatures for therapeutic purposes. For example, entrepreneur and podcast host Tim Ferriss is known for taking ice-cold showers in the morning to boost alertness and mental focus.

Cold therapy can be beneficial for various reasons, such as:

• Improved metabolism and weight loss: Exposure to cold temperatures has been found to speed up metabolism, potentially aiding in weight loss. Cold exposure activates brown fat, a type of fat that burns calories to generate heat.
• Better sleep: Cold therapy can help improve sleep quality. The cooling effect can help lower body temperature, which is associated with better sleep.
• Increased energy and alertness: The shock of cold water therapy can boost energy levels and increase alertness.
• Faster recovery and reduced muscle soreness: Cold therapy has been shown to help alleviate muscle soreness and promote faster recovery after intense physical activity.

It’s important to note that cold therapy may not be suitable for everyone, and it’s always advisable to consult with a healthcare professional before starting any new therapy or treatment.

3 Walk with Your Pets

Several successful individuals, such as Oprah and Jillian Michaels, include their pets in their morning routine. Incorporating a morning walk with your pet can have significant health benefits for both you and your furry companion. Not only does it promote physical activity, but it also boosts mental well-being. Walking helps to kickstart your metabolism, leading to increased energy levels throughout the day and improved cardiovascular health.

The bonding experience with your pet during the morning stroll can reduce stress and anxiety, as spending time with animals is known to release oxytocin, the “feel-good” hormone. Additionally, being outdoors in the fresh air and natural surroundings provides a mental refresh, setting a positive tone for the day ahead.

Regular morning walks can also aid in weight management, joint flexibility, and overall fitness. For your pet, it’s a chance to explore, socialize, and expend energy, promoting a healthier and happier life for them, too.

2 Skip the Coffee

Contrary to popular belief, consuming caffeine first thing in the morning can negatively affect your health and go-get-em attitude. There are two roads you can go: Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter and Square, forgoes coffee until his morning routines are completed, or you can grab water as your first drink of the day like Cameron Diaz.

Here are some reasons to wait to grab your morning Starbucks:

• Reduced energy levels: While caffeine can provide an initial energy boost, it can also lead to a crash later.
• Increased anxiety and nervousness: Consuming caffeine can increase anxiety and nervousness, leading to jitteriness and headaches.
• Reduced absorption of micronutrients: Caffeine can inhibit the absorption of micronutrients.
• Interference with collagen formation: Caffeine can interfere with collagen formation, leading to wrinkles and other skin problems.

Drinking water in the morning can have several benefits for your health, such as:

• Rehydration: Drinking water in the morning helps replenish the fluids lost during the night.
• Improved metabolism: Drinking water in the morning can boost your metabolism, helping you burn calories more efficiently. It can also aid in weight loss by increasing feelings of fullness and reducing calorie intake.
• Increased energy levels: Water is essential for maintaining energy levels. Drinking water in the morning can help increase alertness and combat fatigue.
• Better digestion: Drinking water on an empty stomach can stimulate the digestive system, promoting regular bowel movements and preventing constipation. Warm water, in particular, can help break down food and aid in digestion.
• Improved skin health: Staying hydrated helps maintain skin elasticity, reduces dryness, and promotes a radiant complexion.
• Boosted immune system: Proper hydration enhances the body’s ability to fight infections and illnesses.
• Joint and muscle health: Adequate water intake is essential for lubricating joints and cushioning muscles. Drinking water in the morning can help alleviate joint pain, back pain, and headaches caused by dehydration.

It’s important to note that individual hydration needs may vary, and it’s essential to listen to your body’s signals for thirst and adjust your water intake accordingly.

1 Fuel Your Body

Eating a nutritious breakfast can fuel your body and mind for the rest of the day. Not only does it provide you with energy, but it also improves your metabolism and helps you maintain a healthy weight. Eating good food in the morning can also improve your mood and concentration, making you more productive throughout the day.

Take a play from professional tennis player Naomi Osaka’s playbook and grab a smoothie to start your morning. Plenty of other delicious options include oatmeal with fresh fruits or whole-grain toast with avocado and eggs. These meals are tasty and packed with essential nutrients that your body needs to function at its best.

It’s important to note that a healthy breakfast should include a balance of macronutrients (carbohydrates, protein, and healthy fats) and be based on whole, unprocessed foods.

Education is important—there’s no denying that fact. For the most part, the more schooling you receive, the more successful you will be in your chosen path. In general, people who drop out or receive minimal education are probably headed toward a long, torturous career slinging burgers at a fast food joint. That’s the common perception, at least. But here are ten famously successful people who stand as exceptions to the rule:

Before becoming possibly the richest man in history (taking inflation into account), John Rockefeller was the lowly son of a dodgy con artist and high-school student in suburban Cleveland, Ohio. Although he had some education, by the time he was sixteen, Rockefeller decided it was time to shirk school and begin a career—with the goal of earning $100,000 in his lifetime.

It’s pretty safe to say that he accomplished that mission and then some. Rockefeller made his mark in the oil industry, starting Standard Oil and ultimately creating a monopoly on the entire industry. By 1902, Rockefeller was worth $200 million, and before his death he would amass a fortune of more than one billion dollars. And high school was supposed to be important. . . .

Unless you’re a big fan of journalism history, there’s a pretty solid chance you’ve never heard of Horace Greeley, except maybe a fleeting mention here or there. Born in New Hampshire in the early nineteenth century, Greeley would go on to become one of the most influential newspaper men in American history. He also became a Congressman and—I nearly forgot to mention—one of the founding members of the Republican Party.

Greeley did this all without any formal education to speak of. By the age of fifteen, he had already left home to take an apprenticeship with a printer in Vermont. By the time he was twenty he had moved to New York City and begun working for The New Yorker and the New York Tribune. It was his work with the Tribune that made him famous, and he would actually go on to help found a town in Colorado that bears his name. To this day, he is thought of as one of the most influential journalists in history.

During the tense space race of the 1950s and 1960s, one man emerged as the face of the American attempt to beat the Soviets into space and, ultimately, to the moon. That man was John Glenn: he became a war hero and one of the most famous astronauts in history, despite being a college dropout. Glenn attended Muskingum College, where he studied science, but when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor he dropped out in order to fight in World War II.

There have been many great thinkers of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, and some of them have done incredible things without ever having finished college. Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg spring to mind. But perhaps the most influential technological mind of the past century has been Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple.

Jobs and Steve Wozniak created the first successful personal computers, and over the years helped introduce numerous revolutionary products such as the iPod, iPhone, and iPad. And Jobs did this after attending college for only six months. 

Incidentally, Jobs was adopted, and the stipulation set forth by his birth mother only agreed to give him up to Paul and Clara Jobs when they agreed that they would make sure he attended college. Well, mission partly accomplished.

Arguably the most beloved American writer and humorist in history, Mark Twain gained fame after creating the classic characters of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. In fact, his Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is considered by many to be “the great American novel.” Not bad for a guy who had only a minimal formal education, and who was already in the midst of an apprenticeship at the age of eleven.

When Twain was eighteen, he worked as a printer in cities such as New York, Philadelphia, and St. Louis, while spending his evenings in the public libraries. That’s as close to a formal education as Twain would come, as he read everything he could get his hands on before becoming, of all things, a steamboat pilot. He continued working in that capacity until the Civil War broke out, and after a brief stint in the Confederate army, he began to travel across the country, writing all the while. Twain serves as clear proof that wit simply cannot be taught.

In American history, few people have embodied the notion of the self-made man more than Henry Ford—the man who is best-remembered for almost single-handedly creating the US automobile industry. Ford had a limited formal education, having been born on a farm outside of Detroit, where he worked with a father who believed his son would someday take to running the farm himself.

Instead, Ford left home at the age of seventeen and became an apprentice with a machinist in Detroit—a career path he would ultimately take to another level on his way to becoming a wildly rich and successful industrialist. Despite having next to no real education, Ford created the mechanized assembly line—and it wasn’t long before Detroit gained the nickname of the Motor City because of his incredible work.

Now one of the most famous names in history, William Shakespeare produced some of the best-loved works the world has ever known, from Romeo and Juliet to Macbeth. But not much is known about Shakespeare’s early life; in fact, there are not even any records that suggest he ever received much by way of a formal education.

Scholars have suggested that he may have attended the King’s New School, but they also believe—based on some of his writings—that he did not attend school past the age of thirteen. It’s pretty astonishing that a man credited with inventing more than 1700 words was, by all accounts, a middle school drop out.

One of the most towering political figures of the twentieth century, a famous wit—and, frankly, a quote machine—Winston Churchill was born into aristocracy. It should therefore come as no surprise that he rose through the ranks to eventually lead the United Kingdom to victory during World War II. What probably does come as a surprise—or at least would, if he wasn’t included on a list with this title—is that he achieved this with a limited education.

Churchill, coming from such a good family, was given access to the best education available. That didn’t mean he was any good at it, of course. Churchill found education difficult and did very poorly in school, often being punished for his dismal academic record. His military service was also hindered by his poor performance. He had to apply three times to the Royal Military College, and was only accepted after applying for the cavalry rather than infantry because the grade requirements were lower and it didn’t involve math. In fairness, though, no one likes math.

Perhaps the most popular US president in history, and a guy who, contrary to popular belief, did not fight vampires, Abraham Lincoln was the sixteenth man to lead the USA. He guided the nation through perhaps its most troubling time. But the man who made the Gettysburg Address and effectively ended slavery in the USA—though not through his crippled Emancipation Proclamation—was not even well-educated.

Honest Abe was more or less entirely self-educated, though at an early age he actually had a reputation of being lazy. This did not stop him from starting down a career in politics in his early twenties, and being admitted to the bar after teaching himself the law in his free time. It seems that Lincoln was a political prodigy. And if the stories about him are true, he basically pulled this off through reading by candlelight in his little wood cabin.

Yes: the man whose name now equates to “genius”; who published more than 300 scientific papers; the man behind E=MC2; the man who came up with the theory of relativity; and the man who won a Nobel prize—was in fact a high school dropout. He attempted to get into university, but initially failed the entrance exams.

Einstein eventually made it into college and earned a degree, of course, because men of his staggering intellect always find a way in the end. But the simple fact of the matter is that the greatest mind of the twentieth century was in fact a high school dropout.

Ah, 1984. Ghostbusters ruled the box office, and Prince had the biggest song on the radio. Before this, long-form television ads weren’t allowed by the Federal Communication Commission (FCC). Under President Ronald Reagan, the FCC lifted this ban, allowing the seeds of the modern infomercial to take root.

Shark Tank panelist Kevin Harrington (known as the “Inventor of the Infomercial”) realized that long-form commercials could be used to fill dead time on TV stations. By 1985, Harrington’s infomercials were becoming woven into the fabric of American culture.

But wait, there’s more! In the 1990s and 2000s, infomercials reached a new height of mainstream popularity. Infomercial actors began morphing into the co-stars of the show, along with their products. Billy Mays became a household name after a 2000 OxiClean infomercial, former boxing champ George Foreman became a grill guru, and who could forget Vince from that Slap Chop ad?

Infomercials continue to preach the “As seen on TV” gospel to the masses, but these ten are reserved for a prime-time spot.

Related: Top 10 Banned Commercials

10 Thighmaster

Three’s Company star Suzanne Somers breathed fresh life into her career when she partnered with the folks at Thighmaster. Thighmaster was released to the public in 1990. It was a simple exercise tool that was placed between the knees and squeezed. That’s pretty much it. Thighmasters flew off the shelves in the ’90s thanks to Somers and a series of memorable infomercials.

These involved a smiling Somers, clad in a leotard, demonstrating the product to the audience. Throw in some personal testimonials and a realistic-looking doctor, and Thighmaster was off to the races.

Somers now owns Thighmaster outright. This proved to be a wise gamble. When Thighmaster originally launched, the price was $19.95. It can now be yours for the low, low price of $79.99. To date, Thighmaster has earned over $100,000,000 in revenue.

What has kept Somers at the top of the infomercial hill for so long? Her explanation is simple: “Always tell the truth. The public is smart, and they can smell BS.”^[1]

9 Sweatin’ to the Oldies

Health and fitness products are a hallmark of the infomercial industry. Late-night ads are full of get-fit-quick options for the discerning viewer. However, few have made an impact in this space like Richard Simmons and his late ’80s aerobics program: Sweatin’ to the Oldies.

There’s not much mystery here. Sweatin’ to the Oldies was a dance-aerobics program led by Simmons himself. The series’ infomercials were epic displays of average people dancing to a live band in a balloon-filled room.

Armed with his signature afro, short shorts, and undying smile, Simmons created a boom that continued until he closed his studio in 2016. The series raked in over $200,000,000 and is now available on “Fuse Sweat,” an offshoot of Fuse TV.

Simmons remarked, “I am very excited that my groundbreaking fitness series of ‘Sweatin to the Oldies’ still is so relevant and popular, and I hope many new fans will discover these timeless classics.”^[2]

It’s truly the gift that keeps on giving.

8 Snuggie

The most successful products tend to stem from the simplest of concepts. Consider the Snuggie: It’s a blanket… with sleeves! According to the Snuggie’s website, “There is only one Snuggie!” Well, that’s not technically true. There have been other variations of sleeved blankets on the market for years, but none have touched the success of Snuggie.

This is largely due to a series of laughable infomercials that hit the airwaves in 2008. The ads were a throwback to classic infomercials of the previous era. It checked all the boxes: unconvincing actors, wooden voice-overs, and smiles all around.

Snuggie is still going strong. More than 20 million Snuggies have been sold, totaling over $400,000,000 in revenue. Considering that the Snuggie fixes a problem most people didn’t know they had, why has it become such a phenomenon? Even Snuggie creator Scott Boilen can’t say: “If I knew how the Snuggie became so successful, we’d have 15 more products like that. It just struck a chord at the right time.”^[3]

7 Ped Egg

Speaking of products that solve problems, the Ped Egg is a glorified cheese grater for the bottoms of one’s feet. Think it’s a small problem? Not according to the folks who have purchased over 40 million Ped Eggs.

Ped Egg is the most successful product ever launched by television marketing company TeleBrands. At the heart of Ped Egg’s marketing, of course, were commercials. First airing in 2009, the ads were… a bit gross. TeleBrands paid handsomely to show consumers a sequence of people scraping dead skin onto the floor while a narrator demands, “Don’t put sexy shoes on ugly feet!”

The commercials caught the attention of TV viewers. This led to a surge in direct-to-consumer sales, but for Ped Egg, the money was in retail. The ads raised awareness for consumers, but more importantly, they raised the awareness of the big-box retailers.

Ped Eggs didn’t need to be sexy to sell. Retailing at $10, Ped Egg made nearly $450,000,000 during its TV run and continues to be the premier product of its kind.^[4]

6 Total Gym

Anything fitness-related is given immediate credibility once Chuck Norris is involved. Total Gym is a transformable, full-body workout device. Total Gym CEO Tom Campanaro first designed the Total Gym back in 1974.

The Total Gym gained acclaim over the years, being praised in Consumer Reports as “best for training the torso.” In 1996, Campanaro struck a deal with American Telecast Products (ATP) to produce the first Total Gym infomercial. Those ads needed some big guns to push units. Those guns were Chuck Norris and Christie Brinkley.

The QVC infomercials for Total Gym were half motivating and half cringeworthy. On the one hand, it seemed a legit way to get in shape. On the other hand, it was sometimes tough to see that through the cheesy presentation.

The Norris/Brinkley pitching powerhouse worked, though. Total Gym is still a hot item in the fitness space. To date, Total Gym ads have aired in 85 countries and sold over four million units. This has resulted in over one billion dollars of revenue.^[5]

5 Showtime Rotisserie

If a Mount Rushmore of infomercial pitchmen were to be made, a strong case could be made for Ron Popeil’s inclusion. Popeil started his company, Ronco, in 1964. Ronco released a slew of landmark products, including the Pocket Fisherman and Ronco Spray Gun.

In 1998, Popeil produced the “must-have” item that took Ronco to the next level: The Showtime Rotisserie and Barbecue. The infomercials were fueled by Popeil’s gregarious presentation. He gave hands-on demonstrations of cooking a chicken while a glazed-eyed co-host threw out gems like “That’s unbelievable!”

It was in these ads that Popeil established his catchphrase, “Set it and forget it!” It’s tough to forget the Showtime Rotisserie’s bottom line. Sales for the Showtime have amassed a whopping 1.2 billion dollars. In 2005, Ron Popeil sold Ronco for $55,000,000. Popeil died in 2021, but not before enjoying his last 16 years as a very, very wealthy man.

Ron Popeil may be gone, but budding barbecuers can still pick up a Showtime Rotisserie at the Ronco website.^[6]

4 Bowflex

Bowflex has been in the game longer than most. Debuting back in 1986, Bowflex has managed to maintain relevance in a rapidly evolving market. It wasn’t until 1996 that legal entanglements finally allowed Bowflex to be widely marketed. This put Bowflex in direct competition with Total Gym, which was also released in 1996.

Bowflex is a home gym that utilizes a pulley system and tension rods to create resistance. This set it apart from traditional weights as a lighter and more manageable option.

Those early Bowflex infomercials had a lot to learn. The first ten seconds of a 1996 Bowflex spot was a sequence of perfectly sculpted bodies on display. The next 30 minutes were a combination of “real person” testimonials, scientific claims, and product demonstrations by well-oiled fitness models.

Bowflex made this list not because of total sales but because of their annual sales. Over 2.5 Bowflex units have been sold, and the company touts an annual revenue of approximately $194,000,000. That’s a lot of oversized clothes hangers!^[7]

3 George Foreman Grill

It’s a common misconception that the former boxing champ invented the George Foreman grill. It was actually developed by Michael Boehm, an employee of a Chinese home electronics equipment company called Tsann Kuen.

Boehm developed an early prototype for the grill but had difficulty with promotion. In 1994, George Foreman was approached about being a brand spokesperson and was given a grill to try. Oddly, it was Foreman’s wife who ended up loving the grill and encouraged him to take the gig.

By the following year, Foreman was on TV, pitching his new “Lean Mean Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine.” On paper, an aging former boxer hawking mini grills on TV shouldn’t work… but it did. The affable Foreman showed everyone how to cook burgers in two minutes while his wide-eyed co-host kept the live audience pumped up.

The George Foreman Grill has sold over 100 million grills and reached a staggering $202,000,000 in annual revenue. It was so good, he put his name on it!^[8]

2 P90X

In the fitness infomercial space, P90X breathes rarified air. The brainchild of trainer Tony Horton, P90X was a follow up to his 2001 Beachbody fitness program, Power 90. When P90X was released in 2005, it did so with the support of an unavoidable TV ad campaign.

Unlike other fitness infomercials, P90X looked cool. It was 2:00 am, and a jacked 53-year-old Tony Horton was yelling about getting “absolutely ripped in 90 days!”. America was hooked. Diverging from the corny infomercial style of the previous generation, P90X ads were slick. They featured testimonials (of course), interviews with Horton, and group workout demonstrations.

The workout regimen for P90X is extreme, but Horton denies that it’s only for people who are already in decent shape. He told Business Insider, “Our audience is everybody. From folks in their 70s to their teens, male and female, professional, collegiate, high school athletes and government officials.”

The intense program sold like hotcakes. By 2012, Beachbody sold more than 4 million copies of P90X at $119.85 a pop. Tony Horton and Beachbody have since released two follow up P90X programs. Tony and friends bring in an estimated $400,000,000 of P90X revenue annually, earning them the gold star for fitness infomercials and number two overall.^[9]

1 Proactiv

If this list says anything, it’s that there’s no way of knowing which products will resonate with the public. Who could have guessed that the most successful infomercial of all time would be for a skincare product?

Proactiv was developed by dermatologists Dr. Katie Rodan and Dr. Kathy Fields in 1990. Five years later, they inked a licensing deal with the colossal infomercial company Guthy-Renker. This deal opened the door for the celebrity endorsements that made Proactiv such a smash success.

In 1999, Who’s the Boss star Judith Light was featured in the first celebrity-endorsed Proactiv ad. Since then, Proactive ads have featured such stars as Alicia Keys, Julianne Hough, Kendall Jenner, Jessica Simpson, Adam Levine, and Justin Bieber.

How did Proactiv rope in all those A-listers? They could afford to. In 2014, Proactiv reported annual revenue of one billion dollars. In 2021, 26 years after its debut, Proactive raked in $27.5 million in sales. As long as celebrities and acne exist, Proactiv will continue to sit comfortably as champion of the infomercial.^[10]

Wars aren’t always won by traditional units fighting in strict formations, even if they still do the bulk of the work. Military commanders throughout history have experimented with unusual, specialized units that don’t fit into any conventional military role, often to great success. 

10. Ghost Army

The 23rd Headquarters Special Troops – or the ‘Ghost Army’ – was activated on January 20, 1944 as a secretive, highly-specialized unit of the US Army during WW2. Not all of them were combat specialists, or perhaps even good at fighting, as it wasn’t originally conceived as a conventional force. Comprising over 1,000 soldiers and 82 officers hired from professions ranging from art to sound design, the Ghost Army was instead responsible for large-scale deception operations, like building entire fake regiments and sending false radio messages to the Germans, usually to support conventional Allied offensives. 

It might sound something like wartime set design, though these guys were usually working right on the front lines. On top of that, they were particularly targetted by the Germans, making it one of the more dangerous positions on the European front. Still, it was a largely successful unit, especially on D-Day. By one estimate, the Ghost Army might have saved the lives of anywhere between 15,000 – 30,000 American soldiers throughout the war. 

9. Ritchie Boys

‘Ritchie Boys’ is a recently-coined term, referring to a loose group of more than 11,000 operatives trained at Camp Ritchie near Cascade, Maryland during the Second World War. Many of them had escaped from Europe due to persecution or the outbreak of the war, and their mastery of European culture and language made them invaluable assets for the Allied war effort.

The Ritchie Boys were rigorously trained in many fields, especially espionage and interrogation, and sent back to Europe to work against the Nazis. While they operated independently and more like a decentralized spy ring than an actual unit, they were still quite effective throughout the war. Ritchie Boys provided the bulk of all intelligence gathered on the Western Front on the allied side, including crucial early information about the scale of the Holocaust. 

8. Unit 9900

Unit 9900 is a special operations unit of the Israeli Defense Forces, responsible for providing intelligence to other units and carrying out covert operations. Established in the mid-1970s, it’s an elite, secretive unit that has played a significant role in a number of high-profile missions, including the assassination of Palestinian militant leaders and rescue operations. It’s also involved in gathering intelligence on a variety of topics, including terrorist activities, weapons proliferation, and foreign policy.

One of its many subunits is the Roim Rachok, which specifically seeks out individuals on the autism spectrum to tap into their unique skills and abilities, making them well-suited for tasks like identifying tiny details in raw, satellite images. According to the IDF itself, the program is still active and successful, and the unit works alongside other parts of Unit 9900 to meet Israel’s unique defense challenges. 

7. Paradogs

Paratrooper dogs played an integral role in the success of the Allied forces during the landings at Normandy. While many people would probably go ‘aww’, there was nothing cute about what they were there to do. These British dogs were trained to target enemy positions, carry supplies, and sniff out explosives wherever they could, putting them right in the middle of the action during the high- risk operation. 

A big part of their training included getting accustomed to loud explosions and flying bullets, as they were dropped alongside human paratroopers on the day of the invasion – June 6, 1944 – and experienced the same dangerous conditions as the soldiers. Sadly, not all of them made it back out alive and had to be replaced by other dogs to complete the mission. These paradogs proved to be invaluable throughout the invasion, and many were even decorated for their bravery after the war. 

6. Mamluks

The Mamluks were a military class that rose to prominence during the Islamic era in the 13th century. Originally recruited as personal bodyguards for royal members of the Ayyubid Caliphate, they gained power due to the ongoing decline of the Islamic empire at the time, especially in Egypt. From 1250 to 1517, the Mamluk dynasty would rule over much of Egypt and Syria, with Mamluk soldiers making up the bulk of its military strength. 

Unlike other unit types, the Mamluks were almost-exclusively recruited from slaves of Turkic or Caucasian origin. They were a formidable force, known for their skills and achievements on battlefields across the Middle East and beyond. The Mamluks were instrumental in repelling Mongol attacks in Egypt and Syria, as their victory at  Ayn Jalut in modern-day Israel put a decisive end to the Mongol advance westwards – something that seemed impossible for most armies at the time.

5. Monuments Men

The Monuments Men were a loose unit of 345 men and women from 13 countries, working as a part of the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives effort launched by Allied nations in 1943. Their primary role was the documentation, preservation, and restoration of the cultural heritage of Europe, particularly artwork and infrastructure targetted by the Nazis, as they considered almost all cool types of art to be inferior.

The group included concerned citizens as well as soldiers from around the world, including curators, architects, art historians, and other academic experts. They usually worked on or near the front lines, making it a rather dangerous job for, say, an art historian. Regardless, the Monuments Men played a crucial part in the preservation and retrieval of many notable works, including the April, 1945 raid at a salt mine full of gold, art, and other Nazi valuables in Thuringia, Germany. 

4. Immortals

The Immortals – first mentioned by Herodotus in the 5th century BC – were an elite military unit of the Persian army during the Achaemenid Empire, lasting from 559-330 BC. It was made up of exactly 10,000 hand-picked soldiers, extensively trained in all forms of combat to protect the king and his family. Whenever a member died, he was replaced by another soldier in the same role and position, making it seem like the unit was immortal.

It wasn’t just a PR stunt, either. The 10,000 Immortals were a fearsome force on the battlefield, with their body armor made of overlapping bronze and iron plates like the scales of a fish, leather-covered shields of wicker and wood, and their main weapon of choice, the six-foot-long spear.

The Immortals were a largely successful fighting unit, serving in the main forces of the Achaemenid Empire until Alexander’s decisive victory at the Battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC. Despite the defeat, Alexander regarded the Immortals as an elite, respectable unit, and even attempted to keep them intact as a fighting force after his conquest.  

3. Tunnel Rats

The Tunnel Rats were a unit of US and South Vietnamese soldiers during the Vietnam War. Most of them were volunteer specialists, tasked with clearing out the vast network of tunnels in Vietnam and Laos used by the Viet Cong. Their primary roles included looking for and disabling booby traps, close-quarters combat, and intelligence gathering. 

As you can guess, it was a dangerous and terrifying job, and they were usually only equipped with bare-bones equipment like flashlights, small pistols, and knives. The tunnels were often elaborate and made of several chambers and levels, and the full extent of the network was only known to Viet Cong fighters and some locals. Apart from enemy combatants, members of the unit also had to fight off venomous snakes and other animals like bats and spiders. 

2. Potsdam Giants

Named after the city of Potsdam in what is now Germany, the Potsdam Giants were an elite unit of exclusively-tall soldiers recruited by Prussian King Frederick William I in the early 18th century. Selected for their physical strength and tall stature, the Giants were primarily used to showcase Prussian military might at parades and other public functions, though they were also a potent fighting force when needed. 

The official name of the unit was The Grand Grenadiers of Potsdam, and many historians have also called it an early experiment in eugenics. To maintain the regiment, Frederick William experimented with selective breeding techniques – like only mating existing members with tall women. He also had a specialized rack to stretch the soldiers to make them even taller, which sometimes resulted in their deaths, as one would reasonably expect. By the time he died in 1740, there were over 2,5000 Potsdam Giants in the city, and the unit wouldn’t be fully dissolved until 1806.  

1. Sacred Band Of Thebes

The Sacred Band of Thebes was an elite military unit of the ancient Greek city-state of Thebes. Created by a Theban general called Gorgidas, it was made up of 150 gay couples, totalling to an exact 300 men. Gorgidas believed that the love between the members would make them more loyal and fearsome in battle, and rightly so, too. It was one of the more successful units of the time, first gaining fame under general Pelopidas at the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC. 

While they might sound like the inspiration for the movie 300, the Sacred Band was actually opposed to Spartans in real life. In fact, the unit was instrumental in ending Spartan hegemony in ancient Greece, back when it was still a loose, geographical grouping of independent city states. Unfortunately, the Sacred Band would be dissolved after the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC, when the Macedonian army – led by Philip II and his son, Alexander – crushed the combined forces of Thebes and Athens.