The richest bad ass in history

Mansa Musa of Mali was and still is the richest person to have ever lived on this planet. He reigned over the kingdom of Mali located in west Africa during the 14th century. Originally he was an adviser to the king who went on a boat trip across the ocean only to never return again. Mansa then took the crown as being next in the line of succession.

He traded many spices and also owned many of the gold mines in Mali at the time. To say they produced an inconceivable amount of gold would be a very large understatement. Adjusting for inflation, its estimated he had $400 billion. The second richest person to ever live was John D. Rockefeller with an estimated $318 billion dollars. If you are too lazy to do the math, that’s an $82 billion difference. You and I are lucky to see $1 million in our lifetime to put that in perspective.

Mansa Musa was also a devout Muslim and believed that it was his duty to make the pilgrimage to Mecca. With him on this pilgrimage he took 60,000 companions and 80 camels carrying 50 to 300 pounds of gold each. Along his way he would hand out gold to beggars, overpay purposely at markets, and tip insane amounts of gold to servants he crossed paths with in good will as he believed it was his duty to his god to give to his fellow man.

Many of the places he traveled through were great cities like Cairo, Medina, and you guessed it, Mecca. These places, although being very large and wealthy trading cities, had such an influx of gold due to his generosity it actually affected the global economy and the value of gold dropped significantly.

His vast wealth was so great and talked about that even the European countries (which typically ignored African kingdoms) noted the kingdom of Mali on their maps and even illustrated Mansa Musa’s wealth on those maps!

Once returned home from his pilgrimage, Mansa Musa used his money for funding great libraries and schools, funding many of the large cities construction projects in his kingdom, and even built a new Mosque every Friday to worship in. Many of the structures he built stand to this day and the most notable one is The Great Mosque of Djenne.

Mansa Musa died in 1337 handing over the crown to his son. There are many ways for soldiers and generals to be remembered in time but little is more bad ass than charity

Sources:

https://smartasset.com/insights/four-people-who-singlehandedly-caused-economic-crises

Mansa Musa Of Mali May Have Been The Richest Person In History

The bag pipe playing bad ass of WW2

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Born in Canada on the 14th of July, 1922 to a Scottish father, William Millin was commonly known by others as Piper Bill.

Bill joined the Territorial Army in Fort William, where his family had moved and played in the pipe bands of the highland light infantry and the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders before volunteering as a commando in World War 2 under the command of Lord Lovat.

Bill gained notoriety during the invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944 better known as D-Day. Bill was part of the invasion as he landed on Sword beach which was one of the five main landing areas along the coast of Normandy that the British army was responsible for.

Traditionally been used by Scottish and Irish warriors, bag pipers had to stay in the rear of combat as they could easily be shot by the enemy. When ordered to to get on the front line Bill questioned his commanding officer Lord Lovat citing the regulations given by the English military. Lord Lovat then interjected saying “Ah, but that’s the English War Office. You and I are both Scottish, and that doesn’t apply.”

Bill proceeded to advance the beach wearing a traditional Scottish kilt and playing the songs of his people such as: “Highland Laddie”, “The Road to the Isles” and other such songs as bullets ripped through his comrades around him.

After the beach was captured from the occupying German forces, Bill later questioned the German soldiers that had been captured. He asked why they had not shot him as he pushed the beach but they shot everyone else. They replied to him saying they saw and heard the bag pipes on his back but simply thought he had gone mad during the battle.

After the war, He was awarded the Legion D’honneur for gallantry in June 2009. Piper Bills’ bagpipes which he named his “campaign pipes” were later donated the now Pegasus Bridge Museum in France

Piper Bill was not only an inspiring symbol for the Scottish during the battle but he also became a bona fide bad ass ever since.

Sources:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2016/03/19/piper-bill-millin–obituary/

https://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle-2-15039/the-story-of-the-mad-highland-piper-of-world-war-ii-1-4062774

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2019/06/05/remembering-d-day-bill-millin-mad-piper-whose-unflinching-playing/

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