I feel for you Goot. Believe me, I know all about vindictive people at work.
I'm glad you have your wife there to keep you on your feet and to emotionally support you as you bounce back from this. It's hard to not let it get to you but you have to know better things come from this. Just believe in yourself and keep that confidence riding through your interviews and you'll be back working again shortly.
FYI - Large companies cannot tell the reason why you were terminated due to lawsuits over slander, etc. They can only verify your employment meaning that they can say you worked there from this date to this date so you don't have to come straight out in an interview and say you were fired.