10 Common Misconceptions in History

1. Napoleon Bonaparte was not short. Napoleon was measured at being five foot, two inches during his lifetime, which translates to five feet, six inches in modern times. It’s also thought that because he was often depicted standing beside the above average height Imperial Guard, that the misconception of his small stature came to be created.
2. There was no Polish Cavalry charge against German tanks. In fact, in the German invasions of 1939, the Polish cavalry were trained as light, exceptionally quick cavalry. They were armed with light anti tank weaponry and used their horses to move into advantageous positions very quickly. In one case, they did mount a charge against German infantry, and because (for such occasions) they were still equipped with sabres the German infantry found themselves overwhelmed until armoured cars drove the cavalry off. The idea of Polish cavalry charging German tanks is actually German propaganda.
3. The fascist trains did not run on time. Mussolini did not make the trains run on time throughout Italy. The repairs to the line were already completed before the Fascists ever came to power, and due to frequent disputes with labour unions, the trains would actually suffer major delays.
4. Hitler was Roman Catholic. A common condemnation of Atheism is that Hitler, while being an Atheist, could kill and commit genocide without guilt due to a lack of religious morals. In fact, Hitler would have still had this morals, as he was raised a Roman Catholic. He never converted from this faith, and while not being overly religious, was still a practising Catholic who believed faith was crucial to Germany’s strength. It is important to not, however, that while being Catholic, this had no influence on his malevolent nature. He was irrecoverably evil regardless of this. In fact, Hitler is known to have admired the Muslim faith as well as his own, believing that Islam would have been a suitable religion for Germany alongside Christianity.
5. Vikings did not wear horns. This common misconception is rather foolish. In fact, the Vikings, being the warrior people they were, would have avoided placing horns on their helmets, as it would have given a place for their enemies to hold onto them and pull them down.
6. The Earth was known to be round. In fact, this was known since ancient Greek times. Columbus’ attempt to sail around the world was not hampered by a belief in a flat Earth, as sailors and navigators at the time knew full well that the Earth was round. He was delayed because most disagreed (correctly) with his estimated distance to the Indias going around the Earth.
7. Iron Maidens were not torture devices. There is no evidence to support that Iron Maidens were used as torture devices. In fact, they were created in the 18th century as a way to attract visitors to museums, drawing in the crowd who wanted to see this horrific torture devices.
8. Romans were not bulimic. The idea that the Romans built vomitoriums to purge themselves of food in order to be able to eat more is a common misconception. Vomitoria were actually the entranceways through which crowds entered and exited stadiums.
9. The Declaration of Independence was signed in August. While the Second Continental Congress approved the final language of the document on July 4th, 1776 (the day it is commonly thought to have been signed), it was not finally signed until August 2nd, 1776.
10. The Danish King was not a WW2 Hero. During World War 2, many people fall for the common misconception that the Danish King, Christian X of Denmark, confused Nazi authorities by wearing a Star of David to stop them identifying Jews in Denmark. Jews were not forced to wear the Stars in Denmark, and the Danish people and government actually helped a vast amount of Jewish people to escape the country during the war.

Other Common Misconceptions

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