The Hidden Heroes: Rethinking “Discoveries” and the Legacy of Overlooked Contributors

1. The Myth of the Lone Pioneer

History is often told as a tale of great men: bold explorers, visionary inventors, and brilliant scientists who single-handedly pushed the boundaries of human knowledge. These figures—almost always Western and overwhelmingly male—are credited with the first ascents of mountains, the discovery of new lands, and the breakthroughs that changed the course of civilization.

Yet, behind nearly every famous achievement lies an uncredited network of Indigenous guides, non-Western scholars, and marginalized pioneers whose contributions were either downplayed or erased. In many cases, these overlooked figures didn’t just assist; they were essential, sometimes even achieving these milestones first. However, because historical documentation was largely controlled by Western institutions, credit was often assigned to the familiar faces who wrote the reports, signed the patents, or brought their findings back to European and American audiences.

Recognizing these hidden figures does not diminish the achievements of well-known historical icons—it enriches them. It allows us to see history not as the story of a few, but as a tapestry woven by many.

2. Everest: A Shared Triumph, A Lopsided Narrative

One of the most famous examples of this credit imbalance is the 1953 first confirmed ascent of Mount Everest. The name most often associated with this triumph is Sir Edmund Hillary, the New Zealander who reached the summit. But Tenzing Norgay, the Nepali-Indian Sherpa who climbed alongside him, was just as crucial.

Tenzing had far more Everest experience than Hillary—he had been part of six previous expeditions. He was an expert in high-altitude survival and had unparalleled knowledge of Everest’s treacherous terrain. Yet, in the years that followed, much of the Western media framed the summit as Hillary’s victory, with Tenzing’s role reduced to that of an assistant.

Even today, the broader history of Sherpas—the ethnic group from Nepal who have enabled Everest expeditions for decades—remains underappreciated. These men risk their lives to set ropes, carry supplies, and guide climbers through the deadly Khumbu Icefall. Without them, Everest would be nearly impossible to climb.

In later interviews, Hillary himself acknowledged that he and Tenzing were equal partners. But the historical record was already written. The lesson? The person who tells the story often gets the credit.

3. “Discovering” What Was Already Known: The Case of Victoria Falls

Dr. David Livingstone is often credited with “discovering” Victoria Falls in 1855. Western textbooks describe his journey into the heart of Africa, where he encountered the breathtaking waterfall and named it after Queen Victoria.

Yet, for centuries before Livingstone’s arrival, the Kololo people had called it Mosi-oa-Tunya, meaning “The Smoke that Thunders.” They lived alongside the falls, wove their myths around them, and had deep spiritual and ecological ties to the site. Livingstone himself noted that locals had long been aware of the falls. But in the retelling of his story, his “discovery” took center stage, while the Indigenous knowledge of the land faded into obscurity.

This pattern repeated itself throughout history. European explorers often renamed rivers, mountains, and entire regions—erasing the original names in the process. This wasn’t just about claiming geography; it was about claiming history itself.

Today, efforts to reclaim Indigenous place names are underway. Zimbabwe, once named Rhodesia after British imperialist Cecil Rhodes, is one such example. Restoring names like Mosi-oa-Tunya reminds us that history existed long before it was written down by outsiders.

4. The Unsung Scholars of the Islamic Golden Age

Scientific revolutions didn’t start in Europe. Between the 8th and 13th centuries, the Islamic Golden Age saw the rise of some of history’s greatest intellectuals—figures who advanced fields like mathematics, astronomy, medicine, and engineering centuries before the European Renaissance.

• Al-Khwarizmi, a Persian mathematician, developed algebra (his name even gives us the word “algorithm”).
• Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) laid the foundations for optics and the scientific method.
• Ibn Sina (Avicenna) wrote the Canon of Medicine, a medical encyclopedia used in European universities for hundreds of years.

Much of this knowledge reached Europe through translations in Moorish Spain, influencing figures like Galileo and Newton. Yet Western narratives often present science as though it leapt from Ancient Greece to Renaissance Europe, skipping over the crucial contributions of the Islamic world.

Acknowledging these scholars doesn’t detract from European innovation—it highlights the reality that science is a shared human endeavor, passed like a torch from one civilization to the next.

5. Ancient Engineering Feats Wrongly Attributed

For years, when European explorers encountered impressive structures in Africa and the Americas, they refused to believe Indigenous peoples had built them. Instead, wild theories emerged about lost white civilizations or ancient aliens.

Take Great Zimbabwe, a magnificent medieval city with stone structures rivaling those of European castles. Early archaeologists insisted that it must have been built by outsiders—perhaps the Phoenicians or some unknown European settlers. The idea that the Shona people, who had lived there for centuries, were responsible was dismissed.

The same bias applied in the Americas. When the Spanish arrived in Peru, they were astounded by Incan stonework, which was more advanced than anything in Europe at the time. Yet, they attributed these feats to an older, vanished race rather than the Incas themselves.

Modern archaeology has shattered these misconceptions, but for centuries, such distortions shaped how the world viewed non-European civilizations.

6. Modern Oversights: When the Spotlight Misses Key Contributors

This pattern isn’t just historical—it happens today.

• Hidden Figures at NASA: Until the 2016 film Hidden Figures, few people knew about Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson, three Black female mathematicians whose calculations helped NASA put a man on the moon. The astronauts became household names, but these women remained in the shadows for decades.
• Tech Innovations by the Global South: Major tech firms like Google, Microsoft, and Apple rely on engineers from India, China, Nigeria, and Brazil—yet media coverage often centers on a handful of Western executives. Many innovations emerge from teams, but the individuals who do the groundwork rarely receive equal recognition.
• Environmental Conservation: Indigenous groups have safeguarded the Amazon rainforest for generations, yet conservation success is often framed as a victory for Western NGOs rather than the local communities who have always lived in harmony with the land.

These aren’t accidents—they’re echoes of the same biases that shaped historical narratives.

7. Why Does This Keep Happening?

Why do these credit imbalances persist? A few key reasons:

• Who writes the history? The individuals who document events—explorers, colonial administrators, Western scientists—tend to frame themselves as central to the story.
• Media and educational bias: Western textbooks and news outlets often highlight familiar names while glossing over broader contributions.
• The allure of the lone genius: Society loves the myth of a single brilliant mind conquering new frontiers, even when reality is more collaborative.

Changing this requires reexamining history, updating educational materials, and broadening media representation to include the full spectrum of contributors.

8. A More Honest Look at Human Progress

None of this is about erasing famous figures like Hillary, Livingstone, or Galileo. They achieved great things. But real history isn’t about singular geniuses—it’s about interconnected ideas, cultures, and communities.

When we embrace a fuller narrative, we acknowledge that:

• Everest wasn’t conquered by one man, but by a team that included Sherpas like Tenzing Norgay.
• Victoria Falls didn’t appear in 1855; it had been Mosi-oa-Tunya for centuries.
• Science didn’t leap from Greece to the Renaissance—it flourished in the Islamic world for centuries in between.

Understanding history in this way isn’t just about fairness; it’s about truth. And the truth is, human progress has always been global. It’s time to tell the full story.