7 HISTORICAL MYTHS You Still Believe!

7 HISTORICAL MYTHS You Still Believe!

History is an important topic that we all learn in school. Either from our teacher or from that y'know big metal TV cart that they use to roll into class. It made us all so happy. You know what I'm talking about.

But what if I told you that some of the things you learned about history are rather inaccurate. This is Myths You Still Believe, the series all about explaining the truth behind todays most commenly believed myths. Today we're going to look far back into the past and reveal the truth about some of the newly found lies about the oldest of times.

This is seven historical myths you still believe.

Edison invented the light bulb

For over a century, Thomas Edison has been praised for his incredible inventions. In fact, with over 1093 patents to his name, it shouldn't be surprising that some inventions have been credited to him unfairly.

One of the biggest being the thing that we use everyday, the lightbulb.

Over 40 years before Edison was even born, the light bulb was invented by an English scientist named Sir Humphry Davy yet Edison is the one who receives all the credit to this day. This is mostly because Davy's bulb could only last around 12 hours before the filament broke. Edison, or more specifically his lab technicians, found the right filament that would burn for days which granted was a great achievement.

It's just that the light bulb itself was not his invention, he simply improved upon it.

Napolean was a dwarf

Napoleon Bonaparte, a military strategist and political figure, rose to power and became a leader for France during the French Revolution.

Despite his many victories and legendary leadership, it was widely believe, even to this day, that he was a little person. Well, this myth can actually be traced back to several sources however, the main one being British propaganda and his nickname which he acquired early in his military career, named The Little Corporal.

Suprisingly, this title actually has nothing to do with his size but instead mocked his low rank when

he was the first to successfully lead units into victory. In truth, Napoleon stood about five feet, six inches, which is in no way considered a dwarf.

Now, that being said of course he wasn't the tallest of generals but definitely not the shortest.

George Washington was America's first president

Woo, this one's going to blow some of your minds. See, while Napoleon was leading a revolution to liberate France, the man most consider to be the first President of the United States was making it well known that America was not going to get involoved.

However, and get ready for this one, George Washington was technically not the first president.

No. In fact, the United States in Congress assembled, appointed Peyton Randolf the first president during the American Revolution and Washington was quickly made the Commander of the new American Continental Army.

Eight years after General Washington's forces defeated the British, he became America's first popularly elected president. The first president under the new Constitution, yes, but in actuality he was the 15th president to lead the United States.

Viking wore horned helmets

The idea that Vikings, a battle hardened group that practice more strategy than you might think,

would wear such a ridiculous thing into battle is completely false despite what most of us thought all of these years.

In reality, horns on a helmet would simply give the enemy something to aim for when trying to knock the head protection off of the Viking or when trying to grab something to pull the warrior down.

No, actually archaeological evidence indicates that most Vikings went bare-headed or wore leather head gear, sometimes reinforced with wood.

A probable source of this myth is found in romanticized versions of Viking art work that appeared around the mid 17th century to 18th century and was popularized in the 19th century.

The USA became independent on July 4th, 1776

Once again America, get ready to have your world rattled.

When the night sky lights up next 4th of July, remember what you're actually celebrating America.

Now while it is definitely true that the Declaration of Independence was signed by the Founding Fathers of the United States on July 4, 1776, the war actually lasted another seven years.

The truth is, independence was officially won from England on September 3, 1783, when British King George III and US leaders signed the definitive Treaty of Peace. This truly marked the beginning of a free America and what's celebrated on July 4th isn't the official day of true freedom but instead the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence being signed.

Witches were burned at the Salem Witch Trials

Modern pop-culture has given life to this myth. During the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, over 150 people were arrested under the ignorant suspicion of being a user of dark magic. Of them, 31 were tried and 20 were executed. Also, of the 31 who were tried, six of them were actually men. While movies and dark novels will tell you about witches being tied to large trunks and burned as they stood there screaming this was actually not the method of execution. The witches were actually all hanged, except for one who was crushed to death with heavy rocks.

Columbus first claimed that the Earth was round

When Christopher Columbus set sail on the first of his four voyages from Spain on August 3, 1492, his intention was exploration, not a science exposition to prove the shape of the Earth. In fact, it was the ancient Greeks who were among the first to claim that the world was round, so by the 15th century there was barely anyone who still believed that the world was flat, though Columbus actually believe it to be pear shaped.

This myth was created by author Washington Irving, over 500 years after the discovery of America. Irving's biography of Columbus twisted the motives for his journey in an attempt to prove to sceptical royalty that they were wrong about the world being flat and that falsehood is still widely believed to this day.

And now you're just a little bit smarter! Take these to your history teacher.

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