Myths & Facts: History

Hello everybody and this is another one of my *"Myths & Facts"* pages. This time we'll talk about the myths & facts about our world's history.

There are a lot of things about our history that we might have been taught in school, or heard of on Television or saw on Social Media, but contrary to that kind of information, history has happened much differently, and this is what you will find out in this part of Myths & Facts.

## Myth #1~Christopher Columbus is the first European to discover America

As we are all taught in school, that Genoan (not Italian, Genoan) Christopher Columbus set sail from Europe and to discover America, which was on total accident, he wanted to find new trade routes to Asia. Because of this, Columbus day is celebrated on the first Monday in October.

### Fact

Christopher Columbus is always credited with being the first European to discover the Americas. But the continent was discovered 5 centuries before Columbus, by the Vikings from Scandanavia and even settled as they did in Iceland and Greenland. The difference is that the Vikings never documented this and sent it back to Europe, something that Columbus did when he discovered and told the Spanish Empire about his discovery.

The other myth (as mentioned before) is that Columbus is Italian, and the reason why is because Italy as a modern state didn't exist during Columbus' time. He's from Genoa which is now a part of Italy. So he really can't be described as Italian.

## Myth #2~There were 300 Greek warriors at the Battle of Thermopylae

If you like Greek stories, then you know about the famous Battle of Thermopylae where a force of 300 Spartan Soldiers was facing off against around 100,000 Persian Soldiers. With the odds against them, the Spartans decide to fight to the last man. For 3 days and against the odds, they defeated their invaders.

### Fact

This Greek war story had a lot of half-truths. Yes, the Spartans only had 300 soldiers during the battle, but the Spartans had allies, so the Spartans weren't alone. So the Greek warriors had around as many as 5,000 soldiers at the battle of Thermopylae. So yes, the odds were still against the Greeks, but it wasn't as impossible as legend suggested.

## Myth #3~Napoleon was a "Short, Dead Dude"

Napoleon Bonaparte is arguably one of the most successful generals (and rulers) in human history as he would take over not just France, but most of Western Europe, but of course, he ran into trouble when he wanted to take Russia. Most early historians have suggested that he was only around 5 feet 2 inches tall.

### Fact

Yes, Napoleon is dead but was he short.................well, he wasn't \*that\* short, but that's not to say he was a "human tower" either. There's historical evidence say that the actual height of Napoleon was around, 5 feet 7 inches tall, which is a normal height for any human being.

## Myth #4~Benjamin Franklin invented bifocals

Benjamin Franklin, Early America's resident scientist, he discovered electricity and revolutionized electrical science. He would also be credited for allying with France during the American Revolution, he is also credited that he created Bifocals, a special pair of glasses that allow people to read while wearing glasses, giving it 2 different purposes.

### Fact

Yes, Franklin may have done a lot of things for Early America, but inventing Bifocals isn't one of them. Bifocals were invented by a British inventor *John Issac Hawkins* in 1824, he was (somehow) a good friend of Franklin and credited him with creating the invention.

Another myth surrounding Franklin is that he suggested that America's National Bird should be the wild Turkey rather than the Bald Eagle. Again, no evidence suggests that he suggested it.

## Myth #5~Marie Antoinette said, "Let 'em eat cake".

Marie Antoinette, born in Austria and was married to French King Louis the 14th. She was in France around the French Revolution when peasants were starving and revolting against the wealthy nobles, and Antoinette was no exception. Though, French legend suggests that when she was asked about the starving peasants she famously said.

> "*If these peasants are starving, than let 'em eat cake."*
>
>

### Fact

Ms. Antoinette may be labeled with this saying, but even famous historical figures can be misquoted as there's no real historical evidence that suggests that she said "Let 'em eat cake." and despite her being known in France as "Madame Debt" due to her reputation of spending a lot of French funds for her lavish lifestyle, but she also donated a lot of that to some sponsored charities across France.

## Myth #6~George Washington Carver created Peanut Butter

Many people who like studying African-American history knows about Geroge Washington Carver as "The Peanut Guy" as he had quite a bit of food he created from Peanuts, and one of them suggested that it was Peanut Butter.

### Fact

While it's true that Mr. Carver made a lot of foods made from Peanuts. But, unfortunately for him, Peanut Butter isn't one of them, in fact, a lot of Carver's peanut foods weren't considered......." commercially successful" to say the least. The man who is created Peanut Butter was a Canadian Agriculturist named *Marcellus Gilmore Edson* in 1884.

## Myth #7~Pirates buried their treasure

We all know the story of the Pirates, especially from the late 17th to the mid 18th century with the "Golden Age of Piracy" where lawless people from Europe would sail the oceans and into the colonized islands in the Caribbean and even Central America. We also know of the fable that Pirates buried their "precious cargo" consisting of valuable goods such as gold, silver, jewels, rare pots, and other things worth value, and sometimes would bury it so other pirates wouldn't rob them.

### Fact

Yes, its fun to read about Pirates burying their treasures on the beaches of the Caribbean and making up maps with that big "X" which marks the treasure. But according to actual treasure hunters and historians, there's no real physical evidence that Pirates buried their treasure, and to the contrary historians suggest that treasure to Pirates means more to them if they take it with them than try to bury it. A piece of evidence is the most brutal Pirate Sir Francis Drake when he raided Spanish merchant ships and a lot of them had treasure on them, which is enough to pay of Britain's debt at the time.

## Fascist Transportation myths

In the early parts of history, the terrible fascist leaders Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini were credited for their own respective nations' transportation systems. With Hitler, he was (for a time) credited for the creation of Germany's "Autobahn" system which would come (for a time) one of the best in the world, and help inspire the USA's interstate system. For Mussolini, some people thought that he solved Italy's train problem for making them run on time.

### Fact

But it turns out these are 2 myths (at the same time no less). Germany's Autobahn highway system was already in development when Hitler became Germany's chancellor in 1933 as construction began 2 years before. For Mussolini, him making Italy's trains run on time was merely propaganda which promotes Mussolini's own beliefs and exploits.

Well, that'll do it for this page, don't forget to check out my Games and Movies wiki also. Until next time, this is JohnnyOTGS singing out.