Ancient to early modern history
- In ancient Rome, Romans did not build rooms called vomitoria in which to purge themselves after a meal.[1] Vomitoria were the entranceways through which crowds entered and exited a stadium.[2]
- Nero did not "fiddle" during the Great Fire of Rome (violins had not yet been invented, nor was he playing the lyre). In fact, upon hearing news of the fire, Nero rushed back to Rome to organize a relief effort, which he paid for from his own funds. He also opened his palaces to provide shelter for the homeless, and arranged for food supplies to be delivered in order to prevent starvation among the survivors.[3] Finally, he made a new urban development plan that attempted to make it more difficult for fires to spread.[4] However, it is true that he blamed the fire on Christians.[5]
- There is no evidence that Vikings wore horns on their helmets.[6]
- King Canute did not command the tide to reverse in a fit of delusional arrogance.[7] His presence on the beach that day, if the incident even happened, was most likely to prove a point to members of his privy council that no man is all-powerful, and we all must bend to forces beyond our control, such as the tides.
- There is no evidence that iron maidens were invented in the Middle Ages or even used for torture, despite being shown so in some media. Instead they were pieced together in the 18th century from several artifacts found in museums in order to create spectacular objects intended for (commercial) exhibition.[8]
- Christopher Columbus's efforts to obtain support for his voyages were not hampered by a European belief in a flat Earth. Sailors and navigators of the time knew that the Earth was spherical, but (correctly) disagreed with Columbus's estimate of the distance to India, which was approximately one-sixth of the actual distance. If the Americas did not exist, and had Columbus continued to India, he would have run out of supplies before reaching it at the rate he was traveling. Without the ability to determine longitude at sea, he could not have noticed that his estimate was an error in time to return. This longitude problem remained unsolved until the 18th century, when the lunar distance method emerged in parallel with efforts by inventor John Harrison to create the first marine chronometers. The intellectual class had known[9] that the Earth was spherical since the works of the Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle.[10] Eratosthenesmade a very good estimate of the Earth's diameter in approximately 240 BCE.[11][12][13] See also: Myth of the Flat Earth.
- Moreover, Columbus did not "discover America" in the sense of identifying a new continent. Although some historians argue he knew he had found a land between Europe and Asia,[14] most of his writings show he thought he reached the eastern coast of Asia.[15] This is, in part, why it was named after Amerigo Vespucci (who identified the new continent) in 1507, about one year after Columbus died. Furthermore, it was not until his second voyage that he set foot on land currently belonging to the United States (Puerto Rico, November 19, 1493), and it was not until his third voyage in 1498 that Columbus set foot on the American continent. The majority of landings Columbus had made on his four voyages, including the initial October 12, 1492 landing (the anniversary of which forms the basis of Columbus Day), were in the Caribbean Islands. Columbus was also not the first European to visit the Americas, being preceded at least by Leif Ericson.
- There is a legend that Marco Polo imported pasta from China[16] which originated with the Macaroni Journal, published by an association of food industries with the goal of promoting the use of pasta in the United States.[17] Marco Polo describes a food similar to "lagana" in his Travels, but he uses a term with which he was already familiar. Durum wheat, and thus pasta as it is known today, was introduced by Arabs from Libya, during their conquest of Sicily in the late 7th century, according to the newsletter of the National Macaroni Manufacturers Association,[18] thus predating Marco Polo's travels to China by about six centuries.
- Contrary to the popular image of the Pilgrim Fathers, the early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts did not necessarily wear all black, nor did their capotains (hats) resemble the widely depicted tall hat with a buckle on it. Instead, their fashion would have been based on that of the late Elizabethan era: doublets, jerkins and ruffs, while the capotains would have been shorter and rounder. According to Plimoth Plantation historian James W. Baker, this image was formed in the 19th century when buckles were a kind of emblem of quaintness. This is also the reason illustrators gave Santa Clausbuckles.[19][20][21][22]
- Furthermore, the widely believed "First Thanksgiving" held at Plymouth Colony was not the first day of thanksgiving on the North American continent. Preceding thanksgiving days were held at the Spanish colony of Saint Augustine, Florida in 1565,[23][24] in Newfoundland in 1578,[25] in French Canada beginning in 1604, in Jamestown, Virginia in 1607,[26] and at Berkeley Hundred in 1619,[27] in addition to numerous similarly themed indigenous celebrations.[28] The association of Thanksgiving Day with the Plymouth celebration was largely the work of 19th-century writer Sarah Josepha Hale, who campaigned multiple decades for a permanent national Thanksgiving holiday.[29][30][31]
- Marie Antoinette did not actually use the phrase "let them eat cake" when she heard that the French peasantry was starving due to a dearth of bread. The phrase was first published in Rousseau's Confessions when Marie was only 10 years old and most scholars believe that Rousseau coined it himself, or that it was said by Maria-Theresa, the wife of Louis XIV. Even Rousseau (or Maria-Theresa) did not use the exact words but actually Qu'ils mangent de la brioche("Let them eat brioche [a rich type of bread]"). Marie Antoinette was a very unpopular ruler and many people therefore attribute the phrase "let them eat cake" to her, in keeping with her reputation as being hard-hearted and disconnected from her subjects.[32]
- George Washington did not have wooden teeth. According to a study of Washington's four known dentures by a forensic anthropologist from the University of Pittsburgh (in collaboration with the National Museum of Dentistry, itself associated with the Smithsonian Museum), the dentures were made of gold, hippopotamus ivory, lead, and human and animal teeth (including horse and donkey teeth).[33]
- The signing of the United States Declaration of Independence did not occur on July 4, 1776. The final language of the document was approved by the Second Continental Congress on that date, it was printed and distributed on July 4 and 5,[34] but the actual signing occurred on August 2, 1776.[35]
- The United States Constitution was written on parchment, not hemp paper.[36]
- Antonio Salieri did not despise Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, nor did he have any role in Mozart's premature death. While Mozart did have a certain amount of distrust of the elder Salieri, the two are otherwise believed to have been friendly, if somewhat rivalrous. The supposed acrimony between the two, which has been adapted in numerous works of fiction (including the play Amadeus and its film adaptation), is believed to have originated in a rivalry between German and Italian factions of the classical era musical scene.[37]
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