Have you heard of the real-life inspiration behind the character James Bond?
Bond creator Ian Flemming gave the spy new life in 1953 after reading about a man named Sidney Reilly’s exploits. Reilly was a British spy in the early 1900s who was loyal to no one but himself. Sound familiar? Throughout his career, the “Ace of Spies” committed very real crimes, some of which are echoed the James Bond books and movies we all know and love.
1. Murdering a man on a train.
In 1895, train operators in Paris found a man dying inside a train car. He had been stabbed many times but regained consciousness long enough to say he had been robbed by two men. It later came out that he was a member of an illegal anarchist group. Reilly and an accomplice stole money from the anarchist and Reilly fled to the United Kingdom.
Read More: George Washington’s Spies Were So Secretive, Not Even He Knew Their Identities
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