History seems to be rewritten over and over, and sometimes people who were seen as villains get a bit of redemption years later…

And today, we’re going to hear from folks on AskReddit about what bad guys from history weren’t so terrible after all.

Take a look!

1. Sad story.

“Richard Jewell – initially lauded as a hero and a brave man who ran towards the bomb to help…

Then the FBI and media turned on him and accused him of doing the bombing himself… because;

He was actually just as f**king outlandishly brave and ran toward the bomb to help people,

They took his truck for evidence, he had to go into hiding… made a villain by incompetent people… For YEARS… finally exonerated and dies shortly afterward.”

2. Crazy.

“That woman who was accused of kidnapping children because her kids didn’t have her DNA, but in fact her uterus had different DNA than the rest of her body.

Lydia Fairchild. She has chimerism, so her uterus has different DNA from the rest of her body (the DNA of her absorbed twin).”

3. A huge discovery.

“William Thomas Green Morton died broke defending his discovery of anesthesia.

He was a dentist and didn’t get much respect from the doctors at the time. IMO one of the most important medical discoveries.”

4. Not accurate.

“In Braveheart, William Wallace gets betrayed by Robert the Bruce which never happened.

He was loyal to the end.”

5. Poor lady.

“The McDonald’s coffee lady – the woman who sued mcDonalds after she spilled coffee on her lap received 3rd degree burns in her pelvic area.

She was hospitalized for 8 days and required a couple years of rehabilitation.

The media jumped on the story making it a poster case for frivolous lawsuits.”

6. A good ruler.

“Cleopatra.

She was actually a pretty good ruler with her focusing more on her nation than just abusing her position for her own benefit, there’s even some records saying that she wasn’t even all that beautiful, she was however very intelligent with stuff like how she learned around 10 different languages.”

7. Ruthless?

“Niccolo Machiavelli.

Machiavelli didn’t invent the idea of lying or ruthlessness. He made an observation about what worked and tried to get a new gig.

Now his name is synonymous with “heartless manipulator”.”

8. He was no angel, but…

“Julius Caesar.

He was no angel but he wasn’t executed for trying to turn Rome into a dictatorship. In fact, it was actually because he was a political reformer who wanted to tax the wealthy landowners. The senate had always been very violent to reformers, as most of it was made up of wealthy landowners.

They tried to rewrite history to make reformers like Tiberius seem evil for trying to grant rights to workers and small landowners, while d**th squad leaders who k**led anyone advocating reform such as Lucius Sulla have been paraded by historians.”

9. Controversial.

“Bruce Ismay on the Titanic.

The guy saw an empty spot on the lifeboat, and he took it.

Was it heroic? Not really.

But definitely not nefarious.”

10. Defending herself.

“Lorena Bobbitt.

She became such a meme and was always blamed for attacking her husband “unprovoked” but she was defending herself from a serial r**ist and a**ser.

He literally had r**ed her earlier that same day.”

11. A huge story.

“Monica Lewinsky didn’t deserve any of the h**red she received.

She was so young and she was taken advantage of by the literal most powerful man in the world, but somehow HER name ended up labeling the scandal.”

12. The captain.

“Captain Hazelwood of the Exxon Valdez.

He is often pictured on the helm of the Exxon swaying d**nkenly going full throttle into the reef talking like a “pirate.”

What actually happened.

Valdez’s critical navigation equipment was out of commission, faxs sent to Exxon and Exxon told them to sail instead.

Coast guard budget cuts removed vessel tracking in the area.

Green and tired crew was on duty, request was made to relief crew. It was denied.

XO who was on Conn at the time was inexperienced on the passage and neither requested pilotage.

While Hazelwood did drink that day he was not in command of the conn at the time and was in his quarters resting.

Hazelwood made a comment that “He needed a drink.” Because of how upset he was over the situation.

Exxon’s PR paid off the media to blame Hazelwood.

However Hazelwood was charged with only one charge which was for pollution. He proved he was not a drunkard and retained his captain’s license. Even getting offers to sail again which he turned down.

The real villains are mass media, False News, and comedians but Exxon’s PRs spending power to keep the blame off them.

Hazelwood passed away last year after the annv of the spill.”

Now it’s your turn!

Tell us what you think about this in the comments.

Thanks a lot!