A lie repeated a thousand times doesn’t become true, or so they say. Generally, history lessons in school make us memorize and learn facts and dates that changed the world. We all know that Christopher Columbus set sail in 1492, that the Western Roman Empire fell in 476, and that the Allies landed in Normandy on June 6, 1944. These are facts that have been claimed and corroborated by historians. However, there are other facts and stories that, even when they haven’t gone through that meticulous verification process, have still passed as true, despite being nothing more than myths.
Take a look at this list and count how many you thought were hard historical facts.
1. George Washington didn’t have wooden teeth
The image of the father of the United States, with his white wig and big wooden teeth, has been promoted for centuries. However, it was not the case. Just imagine, wood inside the mouth with all the saliva and humidity? Not quite a great idea. Washington did have terrible teeth, and he did use several dentures, including some made of gold, ivory, and even lead, but wood wasn’t one of these materials. The myth might’ve had more to do with bad hygiene and his love of drinking port, the burgundy-brownish hue of which might’ve stained his dentures, making them look like wood.
2. Julius Caesar wasn’t born by C-section
The story of Julius Caesar giving his name to the famous caesarian section because he was born in that fashion is something even some doctors still believe. However, Julius Caesar was born by natural birth, as was common back then. The name actually comes from “Lex Caesarea,” which means “law of Caesar.” This law dictated that a baby could be cut out from the womb of the mother if she died during childbirth.
3. Viking helmets didn’t have horns
According to archaeological evidence, the image of the mighty Vikings with their huge horned-helmets is just a product of modern reimagining. Most Viking warriors actually fought bare-headed and the most they would wear would be leather gear to give a bit of protection, but that’s it. The image comes from Gustav Malmströmstems’ artworks made during the 1800s and some German operas that decided to include the flashy element to the attires.
4. Cleopatra wasn’t technically Egyptian
No, the most well-known Egyptian pharaoh was actually born in Alexandria, the famous Greek city. Her family origins date back to one of Alexander the Great’s most influential generals. When he died, her ancestor Ptolemy I Soter, took Egypt starting a long dynasty of Greek rulers that lasted almost three centuries. Cleopatra was the last active Ptolemaic pharaoh.
5. Marco Polo didn’t introduce pasta to Italy
According to the story, it was Marco Polo, history’s greatest explorer, the one who introduced pasta to Europe, especially Italy, from his travels in China. The traditional dish is thought to have been brought into the country around the late ninth century, when Arabs from Libya conquered Sicily. That is almost four centuries before Marco Polo was even born.
6. Newton didn’t come up with his law of gravitation after being hit with an apple
It’s quite common to find amazing stories about how huge scientific breakthroughs happened while doing a random activity. Newton’s isn’t the exception. However, the idea of him being hit with an apple and it automatically giving him the wisdom to come up with a huge scientific theory sounds quite unfeasible. There was an apple involved, yes, but it wasn’t that simple. The actual story is that he had already come up with the theory and had been working on it and what gave him evidence of his hypothesis was seeing an apple falling from a tree while meditating in his garden. As simple as that.
7. Primae Noctis wasn’t a thing in the Middle Ages
We’ve seen in endless movies and books this story of Medieval lords having the primae noctis right to have sex with women on their wedding night before their husbands. This story became quite popular during the medieval revisitation craze of the nineteenth century, but there’s no evidence in texts of this being a thing. It probably happened, but it wasn’t the norm.
8. Not all gladiators were slaves
Movies like Ridley Scott’s emblematic Gladiator or Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus have reaffirmed the myth that all gladiators in Ancient Rome were actually slaves forced to risk their lives to entertain the masses and spoiled aristocrats. Actually, there were gladiator schools for those who wanted to seek glory, wealth, and fame. Also, not all the fights ended in death, most of them were all about dominating their opponent.
9. People in the Middle Ages didn’t think the Earth was flat
The story of Christopher Columbus proving the Earth was round is just one of the many myths regarding the “Discovery of America.” As a matter of fact, the idea of the Earth being round has been around since the Ancient Greeks. Thinkers like Pythagoras, Aristotle, and Euclid, had already talked about Earth having a spherical shape. Medieval scholars were aware of these texts, but not only that, sailors at the time would’ve had to know this since they measured and planned their trips based on the curvature of the horizon.
10. Hebrew slaves didn’t build the Egyptian pyramids
The misconception came from when Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin said it on his visit to Egypt in 1977 and, of course, several Biblical Hollywood movies. But archaeologists have discovered that there was actually a quite privileged working-class devoted to the building of these majestic edifications. They even had their own city!
11. The Spanish Flu didn’t originate in Spain
In 1918, about 50 million died, 34 million more than the total of WWI deaths. However, despite what the name says, it wasn’t an epidemic that came from Spain. Actually, studies claim it’s quite possible it all started to spread in Haskell County, Kansas. So why the name? Easy, Spain was one of the countries with more casualties and sick people. Even the King caught it!
12. Spartans didn’t throw sick newborns off a cliff
Spartans have gone down in the collective imagination as a tough and ruthless civilization, and throwing sickly newborns off a cliff is one of the traits they’re most famous for. But really, that’s not the case: modern archaeological research on one of the alleged cliffs showed that, in fact, the remains found are of men between 18 to 35 years old. So, there was no “this is Sparta” for babies!
13. People in the Middle Ages used cutlery
Who hasn’t savored films about Medieval people eating a full turkey leg with their bare hands? Well, the idea that people in the Middle Ages didn’t use any cutlery is also a huge myth. Actually, cutlery was widely used back in the day, and if we take into account that forks, for instance, were introduced to Europe around the 11th century, well, we can assume that knives and spoons were everyday utensils.
14. Catherine the Great died of a stroke
Catherine the Great was probably one of the most influential Russian rulers, and naturally, being that powerful can make you a lot of enemies, to the point of spreading ridiculous rumors to discredit you. Well, when it comes to Catherine the Great there are two huge myths regarding her death that though they sound really far-fetched, they were taken as true for centuries. One of them is that she was crushed while having sex with a horse, and the other is that she was so big that she broke her toilet and it killed her. The truth is she had a stroke in the bathroom, went into a coma, and eventually died.
15. Orson Welles’ broadcast of The War of the Worlds didn’t cause mayhem
It’s said that on October 30, 1938, during Orson Welles’ special broadcast of H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds, a million listeners thought the alien invasion was real, causing massive panic and mayhem on the streets. The truth is, it was likely either a publicity stunt or newspaper propaganda against the radio, which was taking over the media industry. Either way, it’s pretty much impossible, since the radio show called The Mercury Theatre on the Air had very few listeners.
16. Albert Einstein was good at math
There’s a huge myth that claims that Einstein was terrible at math, making it astounding for him to be a genius in physics, a discipline that actually requires some expertise in mathematics. The truth is that he was quite good at math since he was a kid and that his poor grades, in general, had to do more with a lack of interest in school rather than not understanding. Actually, that’s a very common characteristic in geniuses who see everyday activities as boring.
17. Convicted women in Salem didn’t burn at the stake
The image of women burning at the stake has become one of the most replicated ones regarding the Witches of Salem. This, of course, doesn’t mean the episode was gruesome, most of the women tried and convicted were hanged or died in prison. As a matter of fact, at the time, execution by burning was illegal in England and their American colonies.
18. English pilgrims didn’t celebrate the first Thanksgiving
To start with, there are even doubts that the alleged celebration of 1621 ever took place. But assuming it did, they weren’t the first ones. There are records showing that Spaniard colonizers in Florida celebrated quite a similar event in 1565.
19. Napoleon Bonaparte wasn’t that short
I mean, for modern standards we could say he was with a height of 5’2’’. However, in actual numbers, he would’ve been about 5’7’’, no shorter than the average Frenchman. The myth of his short height was actually all part of a worldwide press situation enemy countries used to ridicule the ruthless emperor.
20. Napoleon didn’t destroy the nose of the Egyptian Sphinx
And talking about our not-that-short friend, no, Napoleon wasn’t the one who left the iconic Sphinx noseless. According to the myth, when Napoleon and his troops reached Giza, he ordered his men to shoot the nose with cannon fire. Now, in The Brooklyn Museum, there’s a sketch of the Sphinx (already without a nose) that dates back to 1738; Napoleon was born in 1769.
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