20 Misinterpreted Historical Moments

Napoleon wasn’t short. The entire “Napoleon complex” stems from a misunderstanding of French measurements compared to British ones. He was actually about 1.70 m tall, which was—and remains—a perfectly average height. British propaganda simply seized upon this joke about his short stature, since mocking an enemy’s physical appearance has always been an easy way to score points.

These iconic horned helmets were invented by a costume designer for a Wagner opera in 1876, but archaeological evidence shows that the Vikings actually wore simple, practical helmets without decorative horns. If horned helmets were worn during that period, they were likely intended for ceremonial purposes.

The violin wasn’t invented until a thousand years after Nero’s reign, so the famous image of him playing music while Rome burned in 64 A.D. is chronologically impossible. This legend was probably invented because he was an extremely unpopular emperor.

There is no reliable evidence that Marie Antoinette ever uttered this phrase when she was told that the peasants had no bread. This phrase appeared in the writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau years before she is said to have spoken it, attributed to an anonymous princess.

Washington wore dentures made of ivory, gold, lead, and even human teeth—perhaps from his slaves. The myth about his wooden teeth stems from the fact that people had noticed his dentures were staining and cracking, largely due to his fondness for port wine.

By 1492, educated people already knew that the Earth was round, a fact established by Greek mathematicians several centuries earlier. Columbus actually underestimated the circumference of the planet and was fortunate that the Americas lay in his path; otherwise, his crew would have starved to death while traveling the actual distance that separated him from Asia.

The harvest celebration of 1621 between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag people did indeed take place, but it was not repeated every year and was not called Thanksgiving at the time. It is possible that, even though the event itself was not violent, it was more of a one-time occurrence than a lasting alliance.

The Salem witch trials of 1692 resulted in a total of 20 executions, but 19 of them were carried out by hanging, and one man was crushed to death with heavy stones. Burning witches was a common practice, but it was common in Europe, not in the colonies.

Albert Einstein was actually excellent at math from a very young age and was already doing advanced calculations while he was still a teenager. The myth probably started because he failed the entrance exam for a prestigious school, but it was the language and arts sections that tripped him up, not the science sections.

Astronauts have repeatedly confirmed that it is virtually impossible to see the Great Wall from low Earth orbit without assistance, let alone from the Moon. According to our space travelers, the wall is too narrow and its color too similar to that of its surroundings to be visible to the naked eye.

The iconic phrase “The British are coming,” attributed to Paul Revere during his night ride in 1775, was never actually spoken. The phrase was popularized by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow nearly a century later.

Cleopatra VII was a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, descended from one of Alexander the Great’s generals who took control of Egypt after Alexander’s death. She was of Macedonian origin and grew up speaking Greek, although she was the first in her dynasty to learn Egyptian.

Archaeological discoveries in workers’ villages near the pyramids show that the laborers were paid Egyptian citizens who received medical care and dignified burials. Although we cannot be certain, many Egyptologists believe that this idea originated with the Greek historian Herodotus and that the rumor has been perpetuated by Hollywood movies.

We do not know for certain whether Van Gogh kept his entire ear or not. According to the story, he completely cut off his left ear during a mental health crisis. Modern analyses suggest that this is true, but the debate remains open as to whether it was the entire ear or just the lobe.

The story of Betsy Ross creating the first American flag comes from an account told by her grandson nearly a century after the events took place, with no contemporary documentation to support it. The true creator of the stars-and-stripes design remains unknown, although Ross may have sewn flags during the Revolutionary War.

The Italian railway system had improved in the years leading up to Mussolini’s rise to power in 1922, and much of the credit for this went to officials in the previous government. This claim became part of fascist propaganda and was echoed by those who wanted to believe that his dictatorship was an effective regime.

Abraham Lincoln worked on several drafts of the Gettysburg Address over the course of several days before delivering it in November 1863. The story about the envelope was invented to highlight his genius and the spontaneous and brilliant nature of his speech, but contemporary accounts and surviving drafts show that this was not the case.

The idea of widespread millenarian panic in the years 999–1000 CE was largely invented by 19th-century historians. Most Europeans in the Middle Ages did not use a calendar based on the birth of Christ in their daily lives. It is reasonable to assume that there was some apprehension in certain circles, but nothing that disrupted daily life.

Cinco de Mayo commemorates the Mexican army’s victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. Mexico’s Independence Day is actually September 16, which marks the beginning of the independence movement in 1810.

There are several Norse settlements in Newfoundland dating back to around 1000 A.D.—nearly 500 years before Christopher Columbus—including the archaeological site at L’Anse aux Meadows. These settlements were likely temporary due to conflicts with the Indigenous population.