Common Misconceptions From History

Common Misconceptions

It's surprisingly easy for something that's completely untrue to enter the common knowledge. Whether due to a misunderstanding or, just as often, a flat-out lie, here are some common misconceptions that persist to this day.

The Emancipation Proclamation Didn't End Slavery

The Emancipation Proclamation only made banned slavery in the 10 states that were still in rebellion in 1863. The proclamation did nothing for the hundreds of thousands of slaves in states like Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, and Delaware that hadn't seceded from the union.

They Didn't Wear Cowboy Hats In The Wild West

You'd definitely see plenty of bowler and derby hats in the Wild West, but the "traditional" cowboy hat was a later invention. The popularity of the modern "Cowboy Hat" goes back to Stetson's "Boss of the Plains" model, which they heavily marketed after 1865—but which wouldn't get the traditional dent in the top until much later.

A Cow Didn't Start The Great Chicago Fire

The story that Mrs. O'Leary's cow kicked over a lantern, causing the Great Chicago Fire...was just flat out made up by a newspaper reporter. Doesn't stop people from believing the story to this day.

Typhoid Mary Wasn't Doing It On Purpose

Typhoid Mary has been villainized as a psychotic cook who purposely infected over 100 people with the disease, but Mary notably did not believe that she carried Typhoid. 

She was a textbook asymptomatic carrier, so she had no way of knowing she carried Typhoid, and this was long before epidemiology was well-understood. She did spread the disease—but she wasn't a monster.

People Didn't Jump From Buildings On Black Tuesday

Stories of men jumping out of windows when Wall Street collapsed in 1929 are vivid in the popular imagination—but there isn't actually any record of it happening. Blame Winston Churchill for the confusion.

It's Churchill's Fault

What really happened is that Winston Churchill, who happened to be staying in the Savoy-Plaza hotel at the time, saw a man jump from above his floor and assumed it was the crash. In reality, the man was a German tourist and the fall was accidental.

The War Of The Worlds Didn't Cause A Panic

The story that Orson Welles's radio play of the War of the Worlds convinced Americans that Martians really were invading is mostly a fabrication. First, not that many people actually even heard the broadcast, but the stories of mass-panic were spread by newspapers who were trying to discredit this new-fangled competitor "radio".

The Apollo Program Was Extremely Unpopular

In hindsight, it's easy to think of all of America uniting over progress and exploration, culminating in the triumphant moon landing of 1969. But it definitely wasn't like that.

The highest that public approval for the Apollo program reached was 51%—and that was immediately after the moon landing. Even then people were still on the fence.

They Didn't Drink Kool-Aid At Jonestown

"Drink the Kool-Aid" is a saying thanks to Jonestown—but they weren't drinking Kool-Aid. They were drinking Flavor-Aid.

There Was No Curse On King Tut's Tomb

The discovery of Pharaoh Tutankhamun's tomb was one of the biggest moments in the history of Egyptology. Soon, rumors began to spread that the tomb was inscribed with a curse, explaining all the eery coincidences that happened to the project.

Nope. The curse was completely made up by tabloid journalists.

Vikings Didn't Drink Out Of Skulls

It's a commonly held believe that Vikings drank out of the skulls of their enemies, and this belief actually goes back centuries thanks to ancient Viking texts that make reference to drinking out of ór bjúgviðum hausa, or "branches of skulls". 

But take a guess what "branches of skulls" really means...

They Drank Out Of Horns

You ever see an animal with horns or antlers? Almost like...branches...that grow out of the...skull.

Turns out, the Vikings just drank out of hollow horns.

Napoleon Wasn't Short

Napoleon's listed height is 5 foot, two inches...five French feet. That's five foot seven in regular feet and inches, which was actually taller than the average Frenchman back then.

He Didn't Shoot Off The Sphinx's Nose

The story that Napoleon shot off the Great Sphinx's nose during his visit to Egypt is just that: a story. In fact, the nose has been missing since at least the 10th century.

Chastity Belts Are A Modern Invention

The iron-clad chastity belt of the Middle Ages is almost certainly a completely modern invention. Similar to the Iron Maiden, they are something that people in the 19th century invented because they assumed people used them in the Middle Ages.

"Here There Be Dragons" Wasn't Really A Thing

It's a commonly held believe that medieval maps frequently used the phrase "here be dragons" in uncharted areas, but there are only two known maps that include the phrase—and both of them put it in the same location, just off the coast of Southeast Asia. 

Maybe there really are dragons there?

No One Thought Columbus Was Going To Sail Off The Edge Of The Earth

You might have been told that people thought Christopher Columbus would sail off the edge of the Earth when he tried to travel to India the wrong way around. That wasn't actually his problem—but he did have serious problems.

They Knew Better Than Him

Rather, many people in fact rightfully pointed out that Columbus had vastly underestimated the circumference of the Earth, and believed he would be underprepared (he was).

Blame Washington Irving

The belief in North America that flat-earth belief hampered Columbus's ability to raise money for his voyage goes back to legendary American writer Washington Irving's A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus, which was more concerned with mythmaking than history.

Columbus Wasn't The First European In North America

Leif Erikson visited and even colonized North America hundreds of years before Christopher Columbus set sail. For years, Europeans assumed that stories of distant settlements in Norse sagas were myth—until the ruins at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland prove them right.

The Aztecs Didn't Think The Spanish Were Gods

People still believe today that the Aztecs thought that Hernán Cortés and his Conquistadors were gods when they arrived in Mexico.

Turns out, that idea was just completely made up...by a Spanish writer...who never even went to Mexico.

The Pilgrims Didn't Look Like You Think

The image of the first settlers in America wearing all black with tall, buckled hats is very far from historically accurate. Rather, you should picture someone putting on Shakespeare—these early settlers dressed in a fashion typical to the English in the Elizabethan era.

The Builder Of The Taj Mahal Didn't Cut Off 40,000 Hands

You might have heard that Shah Jahan, the emperor of the Indian Mughal Empire had the hands cut off of all 40,000 workers who built the Taj Mahal, so that no one could ever build another monument as beautiful.

Sounds fake—because it is fake. That story, while romantic in an incredibly disturbing way, was made up in the 1960s.

An Apple Didn't Fall On Isaac Newton's Head

The idea that Isaac Newton's understanding of gravity came after an apple fell on his head is just a pure invention. He did write to a friend that his ideas were "occasioned by the fall of an apple"—but the apple hitting him on the head was just completely made up.

It's a nice story, so obviously it caught on—but it's made up.

Marie Antoinette Never Said "Let Them Eat Cake"

Marie Antoinette just never said "Let Them Eat Cake," plain and simple. The phrase first appeared in Rousseau's Confessions...that came out when Marie Antoinette was nine years old.

And guess what? The book doesn't even attribute it to her. But never let the truth get in the way of a good story.

George Washington Didn't Have Wooden Teeth

No, the first US president didn't have wooden dentures—but his dentures were way cooler than that. His real dentures were made of lead, gold, hippopotamus ivory (among other animals).

They Would Have Looked Pretty Wooden

There's a chance that, since ivory teeth tended to stain, that they got so brown people just assumed they were wood.

They Didn't Sign The Declaration Of Independence On July 4

The Second Continental Congress voted to declare independence on July 2, approved the final language of their declaration on July 4th, and began distributing the document later that day, but the actual signing of the Declaration by the Founding Fathers didn't actually happen until August 2nd.

Benjamin Franklin Didn't Want The Turkey Over The Bald Eagle

It's a commonly held belief the Benjamin Franklin tried to have the national symbol for the United States be the turkey instead of the bald eagle. Fun story, not true.

He Wanted Moses

The grain of truth? He did prefer the turkey to the eagle, but what really happened was he tried to have the image of the eagle on the seal of the Declaration of Independence replaced with an image of...Moses.

Einstein Didn't Fail Math Class

It's a widely told story that Albert Einstein, one of the greatest geniuses in history, did not fail math class in school. In fact, he had mastered differential and integral calculus before turning 15. 

The confusion likely stemmed from the fact that he failed the entrance exam to the Swiss Federal Polytechnic School. But I'd like to note: He was two years younger than the other entrants, and he aced the mathematics section.

Mussolini Didn't Make The Trains Run On Time

Not only was most of the repair work on Italian infrastructure done before Mussolini's fascist government took control, but the trains didn't even really run on time. The accuracy of the Italian timetable was propaganda, not reality.

Betsy Ross Didn't Make The Flag

What's the only thing you know about Betsy Ross? That she designed the Betsy Ross Flag, the second official flag of the United States. The only problem? There is exactly 0 historical evidence to this claim...until her grandson wrote about it almost 40 years after her lifetime.

Rosa Parks Wasn't Even Sitting In The White Section

Rosa Parks is a Civil Rights legend, but most people misremember her story. Buses were segregated in Alabama at the time, and Parks wasn't making a stand by sitting in the white section, like many people tend to think.

Rather, the white section at the front was full. Parks was sitting in the Black section, the bus driver tried to make her give up her seat to a white passenger, and she refused, sparking the Montgomery bus boycott.

No One Spat On Vietnam Vets

Vietnam remains one of the most controversial moments in American history—but the stories definitely play it up. While there was a very passionate and active anti-war movement Stateside, there isn't actually a single confirmed case of protestors spitting on veterans when they returned home.

Turns out: Rambo isn't real.