# Famous people we don't know the identities of
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [March 8, 2013, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386 "2013-03-08T15:18:33Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2013, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386/1 "2013-03-08T15:18:33Z")
No, not Batman!
Inspired by reading this wikipedia article on The Mad Trapper of Rat River:
> **[Albert Johnson (criminal)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Johnson_%28criminal%29)**
>
> .30-30 Savage Model 99F
> Albert Johnson (c. 1890–1900 – February 17, 1932), also known as the Mad Trapper of Rat River, was a fugitive whose actions stemming from a trapping dispute eventually sparked a huge manhunt in the Northwest Territories and Yukon in Northern Canada. The event became a media circus as Johnson eluded the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) team sent to take him into custody, which ended after a 150 mi (240 km) pursuit lasting more than a month and a shootout in which Joh...
What other famous figures are there who we don’t _(and probably never will)_ know the real identities of?
Others include:
Tank Man of Tianemen Square:
> **[Tank Man](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank_man)**
>
> .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct,.mw-parser-output .geo-inline-hidden{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}39°54′23.5″N 116°23′59.8″E / 39.906528°N 116.399944°E / 39.906528; 116.399944
> The Tank Man (also known as the Unknown Protester or Unknown Rebel) is the nickname of an unidentified Chinese man who sto...
Its only as an adult that I can now appreciate just how much courage he displayed in standing in front of that column of tanks _(and by extension the entire State)_. Although it would be fascinating to learn his true identity and what became of him in some ways I think its better than he remains an Everyman, a potent symbol rather than a flesh and blood person, the ‘little person’ _(which is most of us)_ against arbitrary power.
And the classic is of course Jack the Ripper.
Any other examples?
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### Author:  [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2013, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386/2 "2013-03-08T15:26:19Z")
Dan “D.B.” Cooper.
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### Author:  [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2013, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386/3 "2013-03-08T15:33:40Z")
There was an infamous environmental activist who fought to save the Fox River in Northern Illinois who used the pseudonym “The Fox.”
[According to this article in The Chicago Reader](http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/who-was-that-masked-man/Content?oid=907204) (the host of this board):
> [@](#):
>
> During the 1960s and '70s he waged a guerrilla war against industrial polluters, plugging factory sewage pipes and dumping sludge in corporate offices to dramatize the plight of the Fox River and other area waterways. The alias helped him avoid prosecution, though he also used it to draw publicity. His causes were championed by Chicago Daily News columnist Mike Royko, and his tactics were celebrated in his own 30-page comic book (printed on recycled paper), Tales of the Fox: Pollution Fighter. The attention attracted followers, who helped carry out his campaigns.
He managed to keep his identity secret until after his death in 2001.
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### Author:  [@FrankJBN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrankJBN)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2013, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386/4 "2013-03-08T15:41:44Z")
“He managed to keep his identity secret until after his death in 2001”
So in 2013, this would be a poor example “people we don’t know the identity of”.
It is not my belief, but some will say the identity of the assassins of the Kennedys are unknown.
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### Author:  [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2013, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386/5 "2013-03-08T15:44:57Z")
The Zodiac Killer
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2013, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386/6 "2013-03-08T15:48:05Z")
Deep Throat would have been a good example for several decades but he finally revealed himself.
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### Author:  [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2013, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386/7 "2013-03-08T15:49:14Z")
The Tylenol killer
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### Author:  [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2013, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386/8 "2013-03-08T15:49:51Z")
How about “J,” the unknown author (or authors) of the Book of Genesis?
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### Author:  [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2013, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386/9 "2013-03-08T16:00:50Z")
Jack the Ripper.
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### Author:  [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2013, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386/10 "2013-03-08T16:04:21Z")
There are a lot of very famous photographs that we’ve all seen reprinted countless times in newspapers and magazines, but whose subjects we don’t know the names of.
Most notably, there was Alfred Eisenstaedt’s photo of a sailor kissing a nurse in the middle of Times Square on VJ Day. Several people have come forward CLAIMING to be the subjects of the photos, but their faces aren’t clearly visible and Eisenstaedt never too kdown anyone’s names. So, we’ll never know who the kissing couple were.
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### Author:  [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2013, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386/11 "2013-03-08T16:07:20Z")
Banksy.
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### Author:  [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2013, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386/12 "2013-03-08T16:30:35Z")
The Stig (the current one, anyway).
(Edit: I guess this fails the “probably never will” requirement, considering the fates of the previous Stigs.)
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### Author:  [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2013, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386/13 "2013-03-08T16:35:42Z")
Who kidnapped the Lindbergh baby.
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### Author:  [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2013, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386/14 "2013-03-08T16:41:23Z")
The person who put the Bomp (In the bomp, bomp, bomp).
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### Author:  [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2013, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386/15 "2013-03-08T16:46:04Z")
The person from Porlock who interrupted Samuel Taylor Coleridge while he was writing “Xanadu”; he never found the thread of inspiration again and the poem remained unfinished.
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2013, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386/16 "2013-03-08T16:49:02Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#):
>
> The person who put the Bomp (In the bomp, bomp, bomp).
It’s worse - we don’t even know if it’s the same person as the one who put the Ram in the Rama Lama Ding Dong
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### Author:  [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2013, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386/17 "2013-03-08T16:53:51Z")
Various unknown soldiers.
The Dark Lady of Shakespeare’s sonnets.
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### Author:  [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2013, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386/18 "2013-03-08T16:56:48Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#):
>
> Dan “D.B.” Cooper.
Endlessly fascinating case. I am surprised that no good candidate has ever been plugged into the narrow slot that defines what we know of Cooper. I can only conclude that he had no family or friends who missed him, and that he may have erased his tracks (e.g. “moved away”) in preparation for his robbery, so that even casual people never thought of him again.
I think the case for Zodiac is strong for Arthur Leigh Allen, but yes, we’re never likely to know for sure.\*
I’ll nominate the perpetrators of the “Max Headroom” video hijacking, who have remained unknown despite every reason to come forward by now. A documentary maker and I have a theory about why they have not, but it’s his to tell.
\*I was freaked/amused to find out that my FIL had long lived right across the street from Allen’s house, and that he casually knew him as a neighbor.
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### Author:  [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2013, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386/19 "2013-03-08T17:00:15Z")
> [@pravnik](#):
>
> Banksy.
You might not know it, and he had (still has possibly, hence me not stating it) good reason for keeping his real name secret, but it is fairly widely-known now. But until a few years ago I’d say that was a good one.
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### Author:  [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-we-dont-know-the-identities-of/652386/20 "2013-03-08T17:01:33Z")
Well, there’s this guy who writes a column called “The Straight Dope”…
… Other than that, how about the [Residents](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Residents) and their mysterious mentor [N. Senada](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N._Senada)?
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