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Allan Pinkerton

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Crime Fighter

The Resume

    (August 25, 1819-July 1, 1884)
    Born in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
    Founded the Pinkerton National Detective Agency (1850)
    Head of the Union Intelligence Service (1861-62), forerunner of the US Secret Service

Why he might be annoying:

    During the Civil War, he provided inflated estimates of the size of Robert E. Lee's army, which General George McClellan used to justify his refusal to attack.
    The Spanish government hired him to suppress a revolt in Cuba that would have ended slavery and given citizens the right to vote (1872).
    His agents often worked as anti-union strikebreakers.
    He died when he stumbled during his morning walk, bit his tongue and developed gangrene.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He and his wife lost almost all their possessions when the ship taking them to America sank off the coast of Nova Scotia.
    He thwarted an assassination plot against Abraham Lincoln (1861).
    His logo, a wide open eye with the caption 'We never sleep,' inspired the term 'private eye' for a detective.
    His investigative techniques were so successful that the FBI was modeled on his agency.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 6 Votes: 83.33% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 19 Votes: 52.63% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 7 Votes: 28.57% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 8 Votes: 37.50% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 18 Votes: 38.89% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 24 Votes: 45.83% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 21 Votes: 47.62% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 12 Votes: 41.67% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 34 Votes: 44.12% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 86 Votes: 52.33% Annoying