10 Bits of Trivia About Infamous People

Probably the most famous infamous person ever was Adolf Hitler. I wont need to explain anything about him so straight to the trivia. Hitler was the leader of the Nazi party but party’s full name was  Nationalist Socialist German Workers Party.

Perry Edward Smith was one of two ex-convicts who was charged with the murder of four members of the Clutter family in Kansas way back in 1959. The story of the case was made into a famous book in 1966 by Truman Capote called ‘In Cold Blood’.

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Michael Ryan was an infamous massacarist who shot dead 16 people and injured another 15 with an AK-47 in 1987. Along with Dunblane it is one of the worst single man massacres in British history. The massacre led to the Firearms Act, 1988.

Most people would associate infamous people as murderers but it is not always true. It could be a sportsman. One such infamous footballer (soccer player) managed to miss an open chance from one yard against his team’s rivals. The name of the Dutch striker who missed the chance for Rangers against Celtic from all of one yard out was Peter Van Vossen. Even to this today, when a player misses an easy chance it is sometimes referred to as a ‘Van Vossen’.

John Gotti was an infamous don of the Gambino crime family (one of the 5 major New York mafia families). Gotti’s nickname was the ‘Dapper Don’.

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Ronnie Biggs was infamously involved in the Great Train Robbery in 1963. After being convicted he escaped from HM Prison Wandsworth and managed to make it all the way to Australia. He was later found by the British Police in Rio De Janeiro who wanted to extradite him. The police were unable to do this because at the time Bigg’s girlfriend was pregnant.

Jeremy Thorpe was an infamous British politician who lost his post and his seat at parliament after being charged with conspiring to murder an alleged former gay lover. Thorpe was the leader of the liberal party between 1967 and 1976 and liberal he certainly was.

Ruth Ellis was an infamous murderer who became the last female to be hanged in Britain under the death penalty. The location of the last hanging? Holloway Prison.

Mark David Chapman infamously murdered John Lennon in 1980 by shooting him. He blamed it on the book ‘Catcher in the Rye’ which he was carrying on him at the time of the shooting.

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One of the most infamous criminals of all time is Charles Manson who has spent most of his adult life behind bars. He was inspired (allegedly) by coded messages in Beatles songs, including Helter Skelter and Piggies.