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The Underappreciated Nikola Tesla, and Other Under-Recognized Historic Figures

Khalid Elhassan January 12, 2020 32 min

Nikola Tesla - A New System of Alternating Current Motors and Transformers — Nikola Tesla. Pintrest

32. The Guy Who Saved Western Europe From the Huns

Few people have been as underappreciated as Flavius Aetius (391 – 454), and not just in contemporary popular culture, where Aetius is unknown to most, including many history buffs. He was also underappreciated by his contemporary government, which demonstrated its ingratitude in the most visceral way possible, rewarding his valiant efforts on its behalf by murdering him.

A Roman statesman and the last great general of the Western Roman Empire, Aetius was born into a military family, and spent part of his youth as a hostage of the barbarian Visigoths, and later the Huns. Living amongst the barbarians gave him valuable insider knowledge and insights, which came in handy. It helped Aetius stop Attila the Hun, ruler of a nomadic empire that spanned Eastern and Central Europe and known as “The Scourge of God” for his depredations, from overrunning Western Europe.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.