Famous whistleblowers who changed the course of history
An employee who comes out with information regarding abuse, fraud, corruption, and/or dangers to public health and safety concerns connected to their own place of employment or government is often labelled as a Whistleblower.
In 1777, when two US whistleblowers, Midshipman Samuel Shaw and First Lieutenant Richard Marven appealed to the Continental Congress for help after being sent to jail for doing what they believed to be their duty, the world's first whistleblower protection law was enacted.
The term itself did not come into common usage until the 1970s, however, complaints made by employees have been reported for as long as humans have had organisations and governments.
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It takes a certain level of courage to rise against the prevalent corruption or wrongdoings in their own organisation, whether it is a privately own corporation or ones own government.
1. William Mark Felt
William Mark Felt, codenamed 'Deep Throat', was an FBI agent, who passed on information about the Watergate scandal to Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of The Washington Post. for nearly three decades, Felt denied his involvement before revealing his identity in 2005 in a Vanity Fair.
"I'm the guy they called Deep Throat," he said in the Vanity Fair article.
Following his confession, US President Richard Nixon was impeached and White House Chief of Staff HR Haldeman and presidential adviser John Ehrlichman were imprisoned.
In 1979, Felt published his memoir titled "The FBI Pyramid: From the Inside."
2. Edward Snowden
Edward Snowden, a computer professional, revealed a number of global surveillance programs, many run by the NSA and a global alliance of intelligence agencies which led to the biggest intelligence leak in the National Security Agency's history in 2013.
He released classified information without authorization with the assistance of several telecommunication companies, saying that he couldn't allow the US government to "destroy privacy, Internet freedom and basic liberties."
The US Department of Justice unsealed charges against Snowden of two counts of violating the Espionage Act of 1917 and theft of government property. He lives in Russia after having been granted asylum by the Russian government since 2013.
3. Frank Serpico
In 1971, Frank Serpico, a New York police detective, was the first police officer in the history of New York City Police Department to come forward and testify against the wrongdoings and high levels of corruption in the New York City Police Department.
Serpico was awarded the New York City Police Department's highest honour, the Medal of Honor.
The 1973 film Serpico, played by Al Pacino, was based on his life.
4. Daniel Ellsberg
Daniel Ellsberg was a former military analyst for the United States who photocopied the highly-classified documents, later known as the Pentagon Papers, which revealed that US defeat in the Vietnam War was very likely.
The Pentagon Papers led to an increase in the anti-war sentiment among the American population since the Lyndon B Johnson government hid the truth and carried on with the war despite grim predictions which led to many casualties, which could have been avoided.
5. Mordechai Vanunu
Mordechai Vanunu, a nuclear technician, revealed Israel's highly-secret nuclear programme which led the Israeli government to jail him, where he spent 17½ years of which the first 11 were in solitary confinement.
Sanctions were placed on him after his release which forbade him to leave Israel or speak to foreigners, reports Economic Times.
6. Linda Tripp
Linda Trip played a significant role in the Monica Lewinsky scandal by recording many phone conversations with the White House intern Lewinsky where she explicitly mentioned having an affair with Bill Clinton.
Allegedly, Tripp leaked the information with the intentions of getting a book or a movie deal, however, she has failed to secure any since then.
7. Julian Assange
The founder and editorin-chief of Wikileaks, Julian Assange, leaked millions of classified cables of the US and various other governments.
A Hollywood flick about his life is being made where he'll be portrayed by Ashton Kutcher, says Economic Times.
