There are many badasses throughout history, depending on your definition of the term and/or willingness to believe their stories. Certainly Hemingway falls into that category. For others, John Wayne fits the bill (though he was an actor and his tough guy image was mostly on film). Any single Marine could probably fall into that category, and quite a few soldiers, such as Audie Murphy or Sgt. York. Horatius Cocles stood at the bridge and held off the Etruscans. I'd toss Molly Pitcher in there, for good measure, because certainly women can be badasses.
It takes a special breed to be a rough and tumble sort. I recently stumbled on the story of Carl Akeley, who brought taxidermy into the modern age. His adventures seem like dime novels. He crossed a crocodile infested river on a carcass, and beat a leopard to death with his hands. I doubt that could be repeated today, but maybe these stories are fairly common for men who wind up dead. What made Carl unusual was his survival. His stories live on, much like his taxidermy and dioramas. In that survival, I believe, comes the official stamp of 'badass'.
His career path didn't start out as one which put him on the path as a most interesting guy. He had been fired from his taxidermy jobs for napping. It wasn't until he met P.T. Barnum and stuffed the elephant "Jumbo" that his life changed and he began taking an intense interest in making his creations more life-like. It's doubtful you could get away with living a life like his today, given the current political environment surrounding animals and hunting, in general. In fact, Akeley himself shifted his views later in life and began to promote conservation and nature preserves. I guess anyone's life can change at any point and take a turn for the exciting and adventurous.
