History’s 50 Most Awesome Badasses You Should Know About – Part 3

A Chandragupta Maurya was an orphan born in the slums of in Eastern India (4th Century BC), who went on to forge one of the most expansive empires in India. He commanded 9000 war elephants, 50 million people and an army of 36,000. His personal bodyguard unit was made up of more than 500 Greek and Indian warrior women. To destroy the Nanda Empire; he simply grabbed a bronze sword and singlehandedly stormed the palace. He was captured and jailed but escaped. Eventually, he went on to destroy the ruling dynasty and put into place the long-lasting Maurya dynasty.

During the Vietnam War, Michael Fitzmaurice absorbed the blast of a grenade with his flak vest to protect his comrades. After his rifle was damaged by a second grenade blast, he proceeded to acquire another rifle from an enemy soldier after killing him with his bare hands. Though seriously wounded and partially blinded, he continued to fight refusing medical evacuation. He survived and was subsequently awarded the Medal of Honor.

In 1968, big wave surfer Eddie Aikau was selected to be the first lifeguard at Waimea beach in Oahu. Not a single person died during his time as a lifeguard and he rescued over 500 people, often braving waves that reached 30 feet (9.1 m) high or more.

When Private 1st Class Edward H. Ahrens in WW2 was found clutching a sword surrounded by 13 dead Japanese soldiers, his final words were, “I guess they didn’t know I was a marine.”

During the 1968 Olympics, Kip “Keino” was late for the 1500m final, because he was stuck in traffic. He ran 2 miles to make it to the event on time, and still won the gold. He was also suffering from Gallstones at that time.

During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, British sniper Matt Hughes managed to kill an enemy with a half-mile sniper shot, during which the bullet curved 56 feet (17 meters) in the air before hitting the target. He aimed the shot 56 feet to the left and 38 feet high from the target.

Jason Lewis became the first person to circumnavigate the Earth without using motors or sails. He walked, cycled and inline skated five continents, kayaked, swam, rowed, and pedaled a boat across the rivers, seas, and oceans. It took him 13 years to complete the 46,505-mile journey.

Ben L. Salomon was drafted as an army dentist during WW2. He eventually became a regimental surgeon. While serving in the Pacific theater, four Japanese soldiers stormed his tank and killed the soldier he was treating. In a rage, Salomon shot two of them, kicked a knife out of another’s hands, and headbutted the last. He took up a machine gun and started mowing down enemies. Next day he was found dead after being shot 70 times with nearly 100 enemy troops dead in front of him.

During the Battle of Arnhem, when the Germans started crossing the bridge with tanks, Major Digby Tatham-Warter led a bayonet charge against them wearing a bowler hat. He disabled the armored car with his umbrella, incapacitating the driver by shoving the umbrella through the car’s observational slit. He then noticed a Padre pinned down by the enemy fire. He got to him and said, “don’t worry about the bullets, I've got an umbrella!” He then escorted the padre across the street under his umbrella.

In 1996, Bear Grylls broke his back after falling 16,000 feet when his parachute ripped. Two years later he climbed to the summit of Mt. Everest. Also, Grylls has consumed raw frozen yak eyeballs, camel intestine juice, raw goat testicles, a live snake, maggots as big as a hand, pulsating with yellow pus, and a giant live spider as part of his show.