A famous man made his fortune from an idea he stole from a woman.

This inventor’s life is literally a lie.

It’s the game that has caused estrangements in families over who has control of Mayfair. But it seems as though Monopoly’s 80-year history is feud-strewn, right down to the origins of the game.

When Hasbro, who has owned the brand since 1991, announced this month that they would be placing real money inside a handful of sets to celebrate the ’80th anniversary’ of the beloved game, fans were quick to point out that, in fact, it was more like the 110th anniversary.

Why? Because Charles Darrow, supposed inventor of said board game is, quite possibly, a bit of a liar.

Monopoly was invented by Elizabeth Magie Phillips, then called The Landlord’s Game, in 1904, nearly 20 years before Darrow sold the design to Parker Brothers.

Darrow’s version of events go a little something like this: It was 1935 and the former salesman was unemployed and ‘badly needed anything to fill his time.’

He claimed he ‘invented’ it during the years following the great depression, as it was a way to amass wealth when he had none. Funnily enough, the game made him rich and his descendants are still enjoying the residuals.

Elizabeth Magie Phillips’s story goes like this: In 1904, 30-something Magie was working as a stenographer in Washington D.C. and spending her free time teaching classes on the theories of anti-monopoly tax reformer Henry George.

Read more: New Monopoly rules to cause public chaos and heartbreaking uncertainty.

Magie, who dabbled in political activism, noticed that a board game could be an effective means for communicating political ideas, such as the dangers of untrammelled monopolistic capitalism.

Magie, an ‘outspoken feminist’ of her time, developed and patented The Landlord’s Game, which, not unlike Monopoly, is a square board, nine spaces on each side between the corners, a railroad in the center of each side, one corner that read “Go to Jail,” a jail where you had to stay until you served your time (i.e., rolled a double) or paid a fine, and a “Mother Earth” square, upon passing which each player received $100 in wages, Slate reported.

Try this: Sometimes you need more than Monopoly to keep the family unit functioning.

So how did Darrow get his hands on this idea?

It’s been reported that he copied down the rules from a neighbourhood friend, Charles Todd who had discovered the rules of the game from friends who played it in Atlantic City where a manipulated game of Magie’s game was being played.

Darrow saw the business opportunity and seized it. He got away with it too, until Ralph Anspach, an economics professor at San Francisco State University, tirelessly tracked down everyone and anyone connected to earlier versions of the game and dug into multiple old court documents where he eventually found the truth.

The worst part? Magie reportedly only ever made $500 for her invention and passed away in 1948 without any recognition – well, until now that is.

Do you know anyone that should have received recognition for something and didn’t? Let us know in the comments.