the history of humanity has been shaped
by incredible human beings doing
unbelievable things welcome to
watchmojo.com and today we’re counting
down our picks for the top ten historic
people who may have been superheroes
before we begin we publish new videos
every day so be sure to subscribe for
more great content for this list we’re
looking at individuals throughout
history who have demonstrated
unbelievable skills and abilities or
achieved accomplishments beyond those of
any typical person these incredible
individuals have earned themselves a
place in the history books and could
very well have been real-life
superheroes number 10
Angus McCaskill super-sized and super
strength at 7 feet 9 inches McCaskill
was the tallest natural giant in
recorded history
although the tallest man Robert Wadlow
and woman Zhang shizhong were well over
8 feet both were diagnosed with
gigantism a hormonal condition
McCaskill’s proportions were consistent
with the average man just massive born
in Scotland in 1825 his family moved to
Nova Scotia when he was a child he was
of normal height until he hit puberty as
an adult he weighed an estimated 425
pounds and was quite healthy among the
strongest men in history he reportedly
lifted a 2800 pound anchor to chest
height and could tip over a two-ton boat
to drain it of bilge water number 9
Amelia Earhart courage and ambition some
heroes are super as a result of uncommon
courage will power and single-minded
commitment to their goals Amelia Earhart
is the most famous and accomplished
aviatrix of the 20th century just by
virtue of her uncompromising pioneering
spirit in a male-dominated world she
achieved agent Peggy Carter levels of
badassery and respect
oh but she didn’t simply fly planes
she broke records both in female
aviation and aviation period she set the
speed record for 100 kilometres or 62
miles and was the first person to pilot
an autogyro across America she pushed
the boundaries of aviation and had she
completed her final journey it would
have been the longest of its kind the
world had ever seen number 8 miyamoto
musashi master swordsman separating fact
from fiction can be tough when it comes
to the life of this lone samurai or
ronin his fame during his own lifetime
from about 1584 to 1645 was so great
that it inspired artists and writers to
create fictionalized accounts of his
exploits turning him into a living
legend but a few things are considered
fact he was one of the greatest
swordsman to ever live and was
unparalleled in his to sword technique
he won a record-breaking 60 duels
despite his many activities he died in
his 60s of natural causes cementing his
reputation as an invincible sword
fighter his philosophical and martial
arts-based book of five rings is still
studied today number seven mas tossed o
yama also known as mas oyama super
strength and super stamina pauran soy yo
e in Korea under Japanese occupation in
1923 mas oyama was a master martial
artist and founded the influential
kyokushin style of karate
he credits Musashi’s the book of five
rings as his greatest inspiration Aoyama
earned his nicknamed the god hand with
his one punch certain kill technique
which is exactly what it sounds like
he fought bulls to the death barehanded
or has happened on some occasions with a
single punch to the face he also
invented the 100 man kumite which
consisted of 100 two-minute rounds of
sparring he once performed this feat
three times back-to-back over three
consecutive days a truly inhuman showing
of endurance number six Jesse Owens
super speed humankind may never run as
fast as the flash but this track and
field star proved that humans are
capable of running much faster than ever
previously imagined at the 1935 Big Ten
in Ann Arbor Michigan Jesse Owens broke
three world records and tied a fourth
one in less than an hour this
achievement has been dubbed the greatest
45 minutes ever in sport at the 1936
Summer Olympic Games he won gold in 100
meters 200 meters long jump and the 4 by
100 meter relay held in Berlin these
Olympic Games were viewed by Hitler as
an opportunity to showcase Aryan
supremacy any hopes of which the
african-american Jesse Owens certainly
dashed number 5 Theodore Roosevelt
various superhuman qualities and
endeavors born a sickly asthmatic child
he became one of the most accomplished
men in American history not to mention
President of the United States a jujitsu
and boxing practitioner Theodore
Roosevelt was also a respected author
and scholar as police commissioner in
New York City he went undercover as a
beat cop to weed out corruption he
personally led the charge at the Battle
of kettle Hill he was shot in the chest
while campaigning and still gave his
scheduled 90-minute speech his mediation
of the treaty to end the russo-japanese
War earned him a Nobel Peace Prize and
he once rode 100 miles on horseback at
the age of 51 just to prove a point
number 4
Louis C super strength Canadians must be
feeding their kids right because this is
the second famous strongman to make our
list who grew up in the great white
north a french-canadian from Quebec
Louie cieth is known as the strongest
man ever to have lived some modern world
champion weight lifters may claim to
have him beat but since he lived 1863 to
1912 it’s hard to judge fairly what we
can say is that his most staggering
feats of strength include back lifting
between an estimated four thousand three
hundred and thirty-seven pounds and six
thousand six hundred seventy eight
pounds based on varying accounts and
lifting 500 pounds with a single finger
he worked as a cop for two years
talk about striking fear in the hearts
of criminals number three Albert
Einstein super genius
that every superhuman ability is
physical in nature there have been a
number of super geniuses over the course
of history Sir Isaac Newton gave us our
understanding of gravity and the three
laws of motion which would function as
the governing rules of our universe
until Einstein presented his theory of
relativity comparing the relative
intelligence of geniuses from different
lifetimes achieves very little Einstein
isn’t necessarily more of a super genius
than Newton but there’s no denying his
role as the most iconic super genius
whose cognitive abilities some have
called superhuman an autopsy of his
brain revealed a number of
irregularities to support that idea
number two Bruce Lee super reflexes and
super strength the untimely demise of
Bruce Lee meant that the world never got
to see him realize his full potential in
film pop culture or martial arts but in
his relatively short life Lee a prodigy
of the legendary martial arts master Yip
Man proved himself an extraordinary
fighter and truly one of a kind his
strength and reflexes seemingly exceeded
human standards he could reportedly
snatch grains of rice out of the air
with chopsticks cameramen complained
that he moved too fast for traditional
cameras his reputed two fingered
push-ups one-armed pull-ups and dragon
flag core exercise could break even the
most serious of fitness buffs his
one-inch punch
sure looks superhuman before we unveil
our number one pick here are some
honorable mentions
[Music]
number one Jim Thorpe super-athlete he
might be exactly what scientists in
Captain America were aiming for the
perfect physical specimen Jim Thorpe
performed like a superhuman but he
wasn’t created in a lab born near Prague
Oklahoma to parents of Native American
and European ancestry in the Sac and Fox
Nation he is considered one of history’s
greatest athletes and undeniably its
most versatile in 1950 The Associated
Press named him the greatest athlete of
the first half of the 20th century at
the turn of the 21st century ABC sports
declared that to still hold true in his
lifetime Thorpe played football at the
college and professional level as well
as baseball and basketball
professionally and in 1912 he won two
gold medals in track and field do you
agree with our picks check out these
other great clips from WatchMojo and
subscribe for new videos every day
by incredible human beings doing
unbelievable things welcome to
watchmojo.com and today we’re counting
down our picks for the top ten historic
people who may have been superheroes
before we begin we publish new videos
every day so be sure to subscribe for
more great content for this list we’re
looking at individuals throughout
history who have demonstrated
unbelievable skills and abilities or
achieved accomplishments beyond those of
any typical person these incredible
individuals have earned themselves a
place in the history books and could
very well have been real-life
superheroes number 10
Angus McCaskill super-sized and super
strength at 7 feet 9 inches McCaskill
was the tallest natural giant in
recorded history
although the tallest man Robert Wadlow
and woman Zhang shizhong were well over
8 feet both were diagnosed with
gigantism a hormonal condition
McCaskill’s proportions were consistent
with the average man just massive born
in Scotland in 1825 his family moved to
Nova Scotia when he was a child he was
of normal height until he hit puberty as
an adult he weighed an estimated 425
pounds and was quite healthy among the
strongest men in history he reportedly
lifted a 2800 pound anchor to chest
height and could tip over a two-ton boat
to drain it of bilge water number 9
Amelia Earhart courage and ambition some
heroes are super as a result of uncommon
courage will power and single-minded
commitment to their goals Amelia Earhart
is the most famous and accomplished
aviatrix of the 20th century just by
virtue of her uncompromising pioneering
spirit in a male-dominated world she
achieved agent Peggy Carter levels of
badassery and respect
oh but she didn’t simply fly planes
she broke records both in female
aviation and aviation period she set the
speed record for 100 kilometres or 62
miles and was the first person to pilot
an autogyro across America she pushed
the boundaries of aviation and had she
completed her final journey it would
have been the longest of its kind the
world had ever seen number 8 miyamoto
musashi master swordsman separating fact
from fiction can be tough when it comes
to the life of this lone samurai or
ronin his fame during his own lifetime
from about 1584 to 1645 was so great
that it inspired artists and writers to
create fictionalized accounts of his
exploits turning him into a living
legend but a few things are considered
fact he was one of the greatest
swordsman to ever live and was
unparalleled in his to sword technique
he won a record-breaking 60 duels
despite his many activities he died in
his 60s of natural causes cementing his
reputation as an invincible sword
fighter his philosophical and martial
arts-based book of five rings is still
studied today number seven mas tossed o
yama also known as mas oyama super
strength and super stamina pauran soy yo
e in Korea under Japanese occupation in
1923 mas oyama was a master martial
artist and founded the influential
kyokushin style of karate
he credits Musashi’s the book of five
rings as his greatest inspiration Aoyama
earned his nicknamed the god hand with
his one punch certain kill technique
which is exactly what it sounds like
he fought bulls to the death barehanded
or has happened on some occasions with a
single punch to the face he also
invented the 100 man kumite which
consisted of 100 two-minute rounds of
sparring he once performed this feat
three times back-to-back over three
consecutive days a truly inhuman showing
of endurance number six Jesse Owens
super speed humankind may never run as
fast as the flash but this track and
field star proved that humans are
capable of running much faster than ever
previously imagined at the 1935 Big Ten
in Ann Arbor Michigan Jesse Owens broke
three world records and tied a fourth
one in less than an hour this
achievement has been dubbed the greatest
45 minutes ever in sport at the 1936
Summer Olympic Games he won gold in 100
meters 200 meters long jump and the 4 by
100 meter relay held in Berlin these
Olympic Games were viewed by Hitler as
an opportunity to showcase Aryan
supremacy any hopes of which the
african-american Jesse Owens certainly
dashed number 5 Theodore Roosevelt
various superhuman qualities and
endeavors born a sickly asthmatic child
he became one of the most accomplished
men in American history not to mention
President of the United States a jujitsu
and boxing practitioner Theodore
Roosevelt was also a respected author
and scholar as police commissioner in
New York City he went undercover as a
beat cop to weed out corruption he
personally led the charge at the Battle
of kettle Hill he was shot in the chest
while campaigning and still gave his
scheduled 90-minute speech his mediation
of the treaty to end the russo-japanese
War earned him a Nobel Peace Prize and
he once rode 100 miles on horseback at
the age of 51 just to prove a point
number 4
Louis C super strength Canadians must be
feeding their kids right because this is
the second famous strongman to make our
list who grew up in the great white
north a french-canadian from Quebec
Louie cieth is known as the strongest
man ever to have lived some modern world
champion weight lifters may claim to
have him beat but since he lived 1863 to
1912 it’s hard to judge fairly what we
can say is that his most staggering
feats of strength include back lifting
between an estimated four thousand three
hundred and thirty-seven pounds and six
thousand six hundred seventy eight
pounds based on varying accounts and
lifting 500 pounds with a single finger
he worked as a cop for two years
talk about striking fear in the hearts
of criminals number three Albert
Einstein super genius
that every superhuman ability is
physical in nature there have been a
number of super geniuses over the course
of history Sir Isaac Newton gave us our
understanding of gravity and the three
laws of motion which would function as
the governing rules of our universe
until Einstein presented his theory of
relativity comparing the relative
intelligence of geniuses from different
lifetimes achieves very little Einstein
isn’t necessarily more of a super genius
than Newton but there’s no denying his
role as the most iconic super genius
whose cognitive abilities some have
called superhuman an autopsy of his
brain revealed a number of
irregularities to support that idea
number two Bruce Lee super reflexes and
super strength the untimely demise of
Bruce Lee meant that the world never got
to see him realize his full potential in
film pop culture or martial arts but in
his relatively short life Lee a prodigy
of the legendary martial arts master Yip
Man proved himself an extraordinary
fighter and truly one of a kind his
strength and reflexes seemingly exceeded
human standards he could reportedly
snatch grains of rice out of the air
with chopsticks cameramen complained
that he moved too fast for traditional
cameras his reputed two fingered
push-ups one-armed pull-ups and dragon
flag core exercise could break even the
most serious of fitness buffs his
one-inch punch
sure looks superhuman before we unveil
our number one pick here are some
honorable mentions
[Music]
number one Jim Thorpe super-athlete he
might be exactly what scientists in
Captain America were aiming for the
perfect physical specimen Jim Thorpe
performed like a superhuman but he
wasn’t created in a lab born near Prague
Oklahoma to parents of Native American
and European ancestry in the Sac and Fox
Nation he is considered one of history’s
greatest athletes and undeniably its
most versatile in 1950 The Associated
Press named him the greatest athlete of
the first half of the 20th century at
the turn of the 21st century ABC sports
declared that to still hold true in his
lifetime Thorpe played football at the
college and professional level as well
as baseball and basketball
professionally and in 1912 he won two
gold medals in track and field do you
agree with our picks check out these
other great clips from WatchMojo and
subscribe for new videos every day
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