There have been a lot of things told to us about historical events which are not true, yet they persist and many of us believe them. You can’t blame us for that, since we see these pseudo facts everywhere. Let’s start with something simple. How many times have we heard George Washington had a set of wooden teeth made for him? I know I have heard this many times, but it is not true. He did have dentures made for him out of ivory and even human teeth. When women began to demand the right to vote it is usually believed men were against them. The truth is there were also some women who thought this was wrong. We have been told slaves built the pyramids. Nothing could be further from the truth. Archeologists have found the graves of at least some of the builders and they believe the Egyptians treated them with respect, not as slaves. It is believed they were Egyptian workers. Some historians believe the Jews were not slaves in Egypt but soldiers.

We have all seen them, those heavy metal helmets worn by Vikings with horns sticking out the sides. Many opera performances about Vikings also feature them. There is only one problem with this and it is the Vikings didn’t wear helmets with horns. This story probably came from the fact the Vikings were so ferocious legends grew and exaggerated everything about them to make them seem even more so. Another so called historical fact we have been told many times was Napoleon was very short. One of the reasons he seemed to be so short was the fact his guards were selected because of their height. Napoleon was between 5 foot 7 inches and 5 foot 8 inches which was taller than the average Frenchman of his day. He never should have been called the Little Corporal.

Never swim right after eating because you will get cramps. Guess what, this isn’t true. I know you have been hearing this all your life, but the truth is it will make you short of breath if you are very full. There is a bigger risk for cramps and it the consumption of alcohol before swimming. One thing that always bothers me is when people say Edison invented the light bulb. He certainly did not. Other people already had light bulbs when he got the credit. Sir Humphry Davy is usually said to have invented the first light bulb. After him Sir Joseph Wilson Swan invented a bulb and electrified his entire home and used his bulbs. In 1883 Edison merged with Swan and formed the Edison & Swan United Electric Light Company. Other British inventors had patents for light bulbs as early as 1841. The truth is Edison didn’t invent the light bulb, but he may have made a better one.

How many times have we heard Henry Ford invented the assembly line? We are shown documentaries with his assembly lines and giving him credit for the invention all the time. Ford wasn’t even the first automotive company to use the assembly line, but the true history is quickly fading. The assembly line was first used by Ransom E. Olds in 1901. Some of you may remember his name as it was used for the Oldsmobile Car. He also invented the Rio truck line. The assembly line was first used in the production of the mass-produced automobile the Oldsmobile Curved Dash. Ford didn’t put his assembly line into use until December 1, 1913, twelve years later. Let’s give Mr. Olds the credit he is due.

Do you like movies and shows about Romans? If you do you must also like gladiators. We have been told gladiators would fight to the death and the emperor would give a thumbs down to kill someone. Actually the thumbs down was invented by an artist who used it in a painting. Archaeologists have found many graves of gladiators and to their surprise found their wounds had healed and they didn’t die from matches. They believe many matches would end when someone was wounded or couldn’t go any further. It has been said gladiators were very valuable and worth a lot of money, so their owners wanted to keep them alive.

We have been told there are only a couple of things on earth which are manmade and can be seen from space. One of these is said to be the Great Wall of China. NASA has stated you cannot see it from space with the unaided eye, but it does appear on radar. It has been said many time the blood inside your body is blue because it's deoxygenated. Unfortunately this is not true, blood is always red. Bulls are said to hate the color red and indeed we see red capes waved at them by matadors in bull fights to get them to charge. It turns out they will go after anything moving. This particular fact about red was disproven by Mythbusters.

We have all heard how gravity was discovered. It was when Sir Isaac Newton was sitting under a tree and an apple fell from the tree hitting him in the head. Great story, but it never happened. Newton never mentioned this and the story was told 60 years later by a friend of his and even then didn’t mention Newton being hit in the head by the apple. We have been told it was believed the earth was flat before Columbus made his voyage, but this is not true. Even the ancient Greeks knew the truth. You could watch a ship leave a harbor and see it slowly sink beyond the horizon proving the roundness of the earth and this didn’t escape their view.

We have also been told Romans would eat until they almost burst and then visit vomitoriums, throw up and then go back to eating. There is only one thing wrong with this. Vomitoriums were not places to throw up in, they were tunnels and were used in Roman stadiums. Romans didn’t really vomit to eat more. Most of the painting we have seen of Pilgrims show them wearing buckles on their hats and shoes. They are also shown always wearing dark clothes. Their image was changed hundreds of years later to reflect quaintness.

What does all this prove? It means we cannot take history at face value. We have to check our facts even if they seem to be what everyone believes. It isn’t just military history which is made by the winners, all history is subject to who tells it originally.