100 Mind-Blowing Hero Facts

In 1942, a 12-year-old lied about his age to join the Navy. He became a decorated war hero at age 13 but was thrown out of the Navy after his mom found out.

Brad Pitt suffered an ironic injury on a film set. In Troy, based on Homer’s Illiad, Pitt plays the brave (and buff) Greek hero Achilles. Legend has it that Achilles could not be defeated unless hit in his heel. (It’s where we get the term “Achilles’ heel,” meaning a vulnerable point.) While filming an epic battle scene, Pitt ironically hurt his Achilles tendon—an injury that set back the film’s production by two months.

Brad Pitt injured his Achilles heel while playing Achilles. In the historic hit Troy, Pitt played the Greek hero Achilles. However, he might have gone too deep in character: he injured his Achilles heel tendon during a battle scene, which took 2 months for him to recover from.

Frederick Douglass’s birth name was Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey. When he married he chose the last name Douglass after the hero clan in Sir Walter Scott’s famous poem, Lady of the Lake.

Surrender? Never! Lt Hiroo Onoda served with Japan’s army in the Philippines during World War Two. He was ordered not to surrender, so he didn’t, until 1974. His wartime boss was sent to get him. He returned home a hero.