In our world of the Internet, we do not always know with whom we communicate, because it is customary to hide their names, photos.
But, as it turned out, there were fake people before. Everyone knew their names, they wrote and talked a lot about them, nevertheless, there was no absolute certainty that they exist.
10. Uncle Sam
The symbol of the United States was an elderly man with an old-fashioned beard, with a top hat on his head, in a tailcoat and trousers. His hat is painted in the colors of the American flag.
In fact, no uncle Sam existed. This is just an image that appeared in 1812, during the British-American War.
There is a legend about how Uncle Sam appeared. A butcher named Sam Wilson delivered barrels filled with meat to a New York military base. He wrote U.S. on them, which meant "United States", i.e. United States. And the soldiers joked that the provisions came from Uncle Sam.
It is believed that his first image appeared in 1852, on the pages of one of the New York newspapers. He was painted by artist Thomas Nuts, who was known for his political cartoons.
9. Roland
At the end of the XI century, Roland became a symbol of exemplary war. There are no facts that would prove its existence. He is only mentioned in the Biography of Charlemagne.
Legends say that the best hero of Karl, his own nephew, was Roland.
In 778, when the king was returning from his campaign in Spain, he passed the Pyrenees gorge. There, Roland was attacked by the Basques in the Ronceval Valley. One of the king's nobles, Ganelon, cheated on him and became Roland's personal enemy. He led the army of the enemy.
But Roland blew his horn, because the battle was unequal, and Charlemagne returned and took revenge on the enemy, and Ganelon was executed.
8. Cowboy Marlborough
This image was invented for the advertising company "Marlboro". She became one of the brightest.
Cowboy Marlborough was created by Chicago-based advertiser Leo Burnett in 1954. Initially, the goal was to win the attention of women so that they buy filter cigarettes, which were produced specifically for them.
But in a few months they became popular with men. At this time, scientific evidence about the dangers of smoking appeared and began to promote filter cigarettes.
7. King Solomon
He was the third Jewish king, a character in many legends. In the traditions it is said about him as a wise and just person.
He was even credited with magical qualities. It was said that King Solomon could rule over genies and understand the language of animals. He has written several books.
But whether or not Solomon really existed, no one knows. Information about him we can get from the Bible. Several times this king was mentioned in the works of various authors. But there is no other information that would prove that King Solomon exists.
But still, scientists are inclined to believe that he is a non-fictional historical figure, because the Bible has many facts, numbers, and names that would be difficult to invent.
6. Robin Hood
One of the main characters of English ballads was Robin Hood. His personality always aroused great interest, so films were made about him, and literary works were created.
According to legend, he was the leader of the forest robbers who operated near Nottingham, in the Sherwood Forest. He robbed the rich in order to transfer this money to the poor.
It is believed that the birthplace of Robin Hood was the village of Loxley, which is why he was sometimes called Robin Loxley. In his army there were several dozen free marksmen who supported their leader and were also brave and inventive, and most importantly, noble people.
5. Sherlock Holmes
Despite the fact that since childhood we have become accustomed to this clever detective and perceive him as a living person, this is an ordinary literary character. It was invented by Arthur Conan Doyle, and his works became classics of the detective genre.
But the image of the detective was deducted from Dr. Joseph Bell, who worked with the writer at Edinburgh Royal Hospital. He became famous for the fact that, paying attention to small details, he could find out what a particular person was doing, what his character was, and make assumptions about the past.
Sherlock Holmes, despite the fact that he never existed, became a cult figure. Museums were built in honor of him, monuments were erected, dozens of books were written, TV shows and films were shot.
4. William Tell
For a long time, this national hero of Switzerland was considered a historical person, but later legends began to dispute him.
He was an independence fighter, as well as a skilled shooter. According to legend, one of the governors hung the hat of the famous Austrian duke on a long stick and ordered everyone to bow to her. But a young peasant named Tell did not fulfill this order. Then the cruel governor ordered him to take a crossbow and shoot at the apple that was on his son’s head. Tell was able to hit the target, but then admitted that if he hit his son, he would kill the governor or himself with another arrow.
He was ordered to be sent to prison, a bold shooter was able to escape to the mountains.
3. King Arthur
He was one of the most famous Celtic highlanders, the central hero of numerous novels devoted to knight themes.
There are a number of legends that tell not only about King Arthur, but also the noble knights of the Round Table. Most often, they were busy looking for the Holy Grail (the cup from which Jesus Christ drank at the Last Supper) or saved beautiful ladies.
2. William Shakespeare
He was one of the greatest English-language writers and the best playwright, national poet of Great Britain.
Not much is known about his life. He was married to Anna Hathaway, raised 3 children with her.
Nevertheless, in the literary environment there is the so-called "Shakespearean question." There is a suspicion that he is not the author of all these works. There is no evidence as not a single manuscript written by his hand has been preserved. There are also no records of receiving royalties; he never kept diaries.
Shakespeare did not attend university, worked as a watchman. Scientists believe that a person who was not brought up in a cultural family, without a good education, could not write such brilliant works. He could not have such a vast vocabulary.
1. Homer
The ancient Greek poet, creator of the famous "Iliad" and "Odyssey" is still a mysterious person. His biography is full of contradictions. There are about 9 options for his life. Historians cannot even decide in which city he was born.
Because of this conflicting information, scientists are not sure that a person with this name once existed. Most likely, it was a collective image.
In addition, it is difficult not to notice the big difference between the poems, it seems that they were written by different authors.