Some people have to die to finally get the credit they deserve. These legends weren’t exactly living like royalty when they were breathing, but once they were dead? Oh yeah – books, films, conspiracy theories, cult followings. Whether rebel, visionary, or outcast artists, their real fame began six feet under.
Vincent van Gogh
He sold one painting in his lifetime. Just one. The guy cut his ear off, spent time in psych wards, and died thinking of himself as a failure. Move forward a century, and he’s pretty much the poster boy for tortured genius. “Starry Night” prints are everywhere, from dentist offices to Pinterest boards. Sadly, Van Gogh didn’t need therapy, he just needed a better marketing team.
Anne Frank
She never set out to gain fame. Just a teenage girl, writing about her dreams, her fears, and hiding out from Nazi occupation. She passed away in a concentration camp at 15. But her diary lived on, and it became one of the most read and respected books in history.
Frida Kahlo
Frida was underappreciated in her lifetime, reduced to being simply Rivera’s odd, artistic wife. Meanwhile, she was painting raw, graphic, painful masterpieces about identity, pain, and power. Posthumously, her work broke out into the world, and so did her face on tote bags, mugs, and feminist memes.
Galileo Galilei
He literally proved that the Earth wasn’t the center of the universe, and the Church was like, “Cool story, now sit in house arrest forever.” He died shamefaced and silenced. A few centuries later, everybody’s like, “Damn, Galileo was correct.” Now he’s hailed as the father of modern science. Guess science wins… eventually.
Sylvia Plath
She wrote about depression, rage, and the brutal aspects of femininity before it was “cool.” People called her unstable. Critics rejected her. She took her own life at a young age, and only then was her work seriously considered. The Bell Jar became a required reading, and she became the literary voice for generations of emotionally complex women.
Emily Dickinson
She hardly ventured out of her home and barely published anything at all in her lifetime. People assumed that she was a weird white-dressed recluse. Then, after her death, they found thousands of poems: edgy, provocative, way ahead of their time. Now? She’s a literary rebel queen.
Edgar Allan Poe
The king of dark stories lived a nightmare: abject poverty, heartbreak, alcoholism. He perished alone and delirious in Baltimore, and no one so much as blinked. Flash-forward to the present day: his work is studied in schoolrooms, idolized by goths, and celebrated as the grandfather of contemporary horror. Poe never received his flowers… unless you include the black ones that now appear on his grave.
Joan of Arc
Imagine that you are a teenage girl and you hear voices, command armies, terrify officials, and are burned alive at the stake. That’s Joan. Declared a heretic, burned like a felon… then, oh dear, 500 years later, the church says, “Uh, our apologies. She’s a saint after all.” Just a slow apology.
Alan Turing
He broke the Nazi code. Literally helped in winning WWII. How did Britain repay him? By prosecuting him for his sexuality. He took his own life. Unrecognized. Decades after his death, the UK issued a formal apology, and today he’s on the £50 note. Too little, too late, but Turing’s work lives on in every piece of code we touch.
Gregor Mendel
Mendel was breeding peas and discovering rules of inheritance when the world was like, “Cool story, bro.” Nobody was paying any attention. Years after his death, science finally caught up to the fact that he cracked the code of genetics before anyone even knew DNA existed. Today, he is the father of genetics. Then? Just a monk messing around with plants.
H.P. Lovecraft
He essentially created modern cosmic horror, but when he died? He was a broke, unknown recluse. Now his monsters dominate books, games, films, and even Metallica tracks. He went from nobody to horror god. Sometimes it takes the world a while to catch up with your nightmares.
Emily Brontë
When Wuthering Heights hit the streets, critics just weren’t vibing. Too wild. Too dark. Too “unladylike.” Emily Brontë died believing that the world hated her one and only novel. But decades later, the world finally caught up. Today, it is a goth masterpiece read in every lit class from here until eternity. One novel. One lifetime. And a legendary afterlife, which she never lived long enough to witness.
Henry Darger
Darger died in obscurity, just a peculiar old man with a strange aura. On his death, his neighbors uncovered a 15,000-page epic illustrated novel. Secretly, he built a whole new world. Today, his work is cataloged for millions, and freaks of the art world refer to him as an outsider genius. Who was this guy?!
Jean-Michel Basquiat
When Basquiat was alive, people thought he was just a graffiti punk with weird hair and weirder canvases. Fast forward to now? His paintings sell for over $100 million, Beyoncé name-drops him, and his crown symbol is basically pop culture royalty. The art world didn’t take him seriously until he was gone, and now everyone is racing to say they always knew.
Actors Who Died on Set While Filming a Movie or TV Show
Their portrayals have the power to whisk us away to distant worlds, evoking profound admiration for their craft. Nevertheless, it’s crucial to acknowledge that acting can come with its own set of hazards, and tragically, some actors have met untimely demises while in pursuit of their on-screen artistry.
Actors Who Died on Set While Filming a Movie or TV Show
15 Historical Figures Who Would Have Been Cancelled Today
From questionable opinions to downright criminal behavior, these icons might have altered history, but their actions certainly would not fly today. Get ready for a wild ride through history’s most cancel-worthy moments — and let’s ask ourselves: would they survive the social media storm today?
15 Historical Figures Who Would Have Been Cancelled Today