3 days ago
19 Of The Biggest Historical Lies People Still Believe
Recently, a post from Reddit user Repulsive-Finger-954 on the popular Ask Reddit forum caught my eye. In it, they asked people, "What is the biggest historical lie that many people believe?" and the answers were both entertaining and informative. I decided I had to share; so, here are some of the best:
"Vikings didn't wear horned helmets."
"People believe that Napoleon was this abnormally short man. He was 5'6, which was pretty average back then. I'm pretty sure it was this smear campaign of sorts that painted him as this weirdly short, unpowerful guy."
"George Washington's dentures were not made of wood, but rather a combination of teeth from slaves, ivory (hippopotamus, walrus and/or elephant), animal teeth, and metals."
"While Paul Revere is often credited with being the sole rider to warn the colonies of the British, he was actually one of five riders who alerted colonists on the night of April 18. Revere's mission relied on secrecy, and he didn't shout 'The British are coming!' as the phrase would have been confusing to locals who still considered themselves British. Instead, Revere's network of riders, signal guns, and church bells effectively spread the alarm."
People believe that the Nazis were hated and opposed for their treatment of Jewish people from the beginning. There has been plenty of narrative building through the years around the idea that the Allies were seeking justice for the Jewish people from the start. It was only when we witnessed the extent of the Holocaust that the villainy of the Nazis became more widely recognized and acknowledged."
"The idea that people used to believe the world was flat. In elementary school, I was taught that no one wanted to fund Columbus's voyage because they thought he'd just sail off the end of the world. Utter nonsense."
"People believe that Thomas Edison invented the lightbulb. He did not. Several other men pioneered it before him."
"People believe that women stayed home and only men worked. For the poor, which was the vast majority of people throughout history, everybody who could work worked, even the kids. If you didn't, the whole family would starve and die."
"People believe that the US Civil War was over states' rights."
"People believe that MLK was socially acceptable to white people during the 1960s, and not in favor of radically changing the socioeconomic order of the US. He was a socialist who was widely reviled by the white culture of the time. He's been re-imagined by white people as someone willing to accept slow electoral solutions to racial problems."
"Many people still believe that Marie Antoinette said, 'Let them eat cake.'"
"The myth that there ever was a famine in Ireland. It was a genocide, and the English were exporting enough meat and grain from Ireland to feed three times the Irish population."
"People in ancient and medieval times lived past 30 or 40 on a regular basis. The 'life expectancy' was low due to child mortality."
"The idea that Galileo was imprisoned because of the heliocentric model. Nope, it was because he pissed off the pope, who was funding his research."
"There is a myth that the US has never experienced an authoritarian government. In actuality, a large portion of its history has been authoritarian. The Jim Crow South was an authoritarian government that existed until 1964."
"The myth that carrots give you good eyesight. That lie came from Britain during WWII to hide the fact that they had a new technology called radar."
"The idea that Catherine of Aragon failed Henry VIII because she didn't have a son and heir. She and Henry had — at least — three sons."
"That Samurai despised guns and saw them as 'dishonorable tools.'"
And finally: "That nothing much happened in the 'Dark Ages.'"
What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments. Better yet, tell me your own historical pet peeves that drive you up the wall!
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Please note: Some comments have been edited for length and/or clarity.
