Trolls are one of those things that you don’t mind watching, as long as they are far away and you are not the one being trolled. Perhaps the best way to enjoy the trolls is via youtube, or just reading about their ridiculous antics online. And that is exactly what we are going to do today. Of course, chances are you have been trolled yourself, or you will be trolled, or you may even be a troll! Whatever the case, thanks to human nature, trolls are here to stay. Today, from the safety of your computer, you are going to read about trolls in action. Some of these trolls were benign, others less so. The one thing they all had in common is a deep sense of mischief. Okay, not all of them. Some of them were genuinely accidents. Yes, that can happen. You may unwittingly troll someone just by virtue of your ignorance. It’s not that you meant to, but to anybody watching, they would think to themselves, “what a troll”. Either way, these aren’t your run of the mill trolls. These aren’t the spiteful youtube commentators. These are the troll champions. These are 25 of the biggest trolls in history!
Pablo Escobar
Source: reddit, Image: wikipedia
He took his son to see the White House while the DEA and Interpol were looking for him
Oliver “Porky” Bickar
Source: hoaxes.org, Image: wikipedia
A resident of Alaska, Oliver decided to “ignite” Mt. Edgecumbe, a dormant volcano. He pulled it off on April Fools 1974 by dropping 70 tires on the summit and lighting them on fire. The prank worked like a charm and news of the rumbling volcano spread around the world.
Count Victor Lustig
Source: reddit, Image: wikipedia
One of the most successful con men in history, Victor tried selling the Eiffel Tower twice by posing as a government official and he actually managed to get some money for it! Furthermore, “lustig” means “comical” in German!
Diogenes of Sinope
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
When Plato once defended a man as being a “featherless biped”, Diogenes left a plucked chicken on his doorstep with a note – “Behold! I have brought you a man!”. It is also said that Diogenes died from holding his breath.
John Titor
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
John Titor was a name used on several forums in 2000 and 2001 by someone claiming to be a time traveler from 2036. He made several “predictions” about the future and the crazy thing is that lots of people believed him!
Jonathan Swift
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
Jonathan is well known for publishing “A Modest Proposal” in 1729, a satirical piece in which he suggested for poor Irish families to sell their children to rich families as a source of food. It went over the heads of many people though, and Jonathan was slammed in the press for suggesting that babies would make a good source of food.
Mark Gubin
Source: reddit, Image: wikipedia
A resident of Milwaukee that lives near the airport, Mark wrote “Welcome to Cleveland” in huge letters on the roof of his house.
Austria
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
That’s right, the entire country. Why? Because they managed to convince the world that Hitler was German and Beethoven was Austrian!
Zhuge Liang
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
A Chinese general nearly 2,000 years ago, Zhuge needed to defend his village with only a ragtag army. He decided to sit outside the gates sipping tea until the enemy arrived. Fearing an ambush, the enemy retreated.
Andy Warhol
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
He once pointed a camera at the Empire State Building for several days and released it as a movie called “Empire”.
Basil Zaharoff
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
A Greek arms dealer, he once sold a submarine to the Greek government. He then told the Turks that the Greeks had a submarine and sold them 2 submarines. Lastly, he went to the Russians and told them the Turks had 2 submarines so he sold them 2 as well. None of the submarines actually worked.
Orson Wells
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
Although it was unintentional, when Orson’s War of the World’s was broadcast on the radio, many people thought that Martians were actually invading.
Marcel Duchamp
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
A French American artist, Marcel hated the modern/high art scene and so he once submitted a signed urinal to an art exhibit.
Edgar Allen Poe
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
While at West Point, Edgar was expelled becasue his drill instructor told him to put on his NCO belt and show up to formation. He showed with only his NCO belt.
Machiavelli
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
He wrote the Prince and the Discourses, both of which elaborated on his political ideas. The issue? They contradict each other. Only recently have people come to the possible conclusion that the Prince was a troll piece.
The United Kingdom
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
During World War II Britain didn’t want Germany to know that they had radar and were using it to detect their bombers so they came out with a public service announcement claiming that their pilots had superior vision because they ate lots of carrots. Everybody, including Germany, believed them.
Abbie Hoffman
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
He took a tour of the FBI headquarters while being wanted by the FBI
Ben Franklin
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
He was allegedly such a troll that the other founding fathers had to proofread the constitution to make sure he didn’t include any jokes.
James Randi
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
A retired Canadian magician, James would follow psychics around and expose them on national TV.
Penn and Teller
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
Like James Randi, these two American magicians have entire TV shows dedicated to exposing psychics, paranormal activists, conspiracy theorists, and others. Moreover, other magicians hate them because quite often they tell the audience how they do their tricks.
Piltdown Man
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
So the troll wasn’t actually the Piltdown Man. The Piltdown Man was the cave man that was found in a pit in England. For years scientists thought the cave man was the key to understanding human evolution until it was exposed as a hoax nearly 40 years later.
Frank Abagnale Junior
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
Possibly one of history’s greatest con men and the subject of the movie Catch Me If You Can, by the age of 21 Frank had used fake credentials to work as a pilot, doctor, and lawyer. He also wrote enough bad checks to go to jail for over a decade. He ended up serving only part of his sentence though when the FBI offered him a job in spotting forgeries. Today he is a millionaire.
Iceland and Greenland
Source: wikipedia
Or rather the person that named them. Greenland is covered in Ice and Iceland is…well, also covered in ice but its definitely greener than Greenland!
Juan Pujol Garcia
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
Possibly one of the primary reasons for the Allies succeeding at Normandy, Juan was a double agent for both the Germans and the British. He managed to be awarded the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for convincing the Germans that Normandy was a distraction to the real invasion. In spite of this, he was also awarded the Iron Cross from the Germans for his valiant efforts during the war.
The Greeks
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
For taking over the city of Troy using a huge horse.
25 Of The Biggest Trolls In History
One reply on “25 Of The Biggest Trolls In History”
“Only recently have people come to the possible conclusion that the Prince was a troll piece.” How Machiavellian!