14 Myths Most People Think Are True

1.

Marie Antoinette Never Said "Let Them Eat Cake"...Despite the popular opinion, Marie Antoinette’s famous line was actually written by Jean-Jacques Rousseau in a book when Antoinette was only 10 years old.

2.

American Independence Was Actually Declared on July 2...The American colonies declared independence on July 2, and not July 4--it just took them a couple of days for Thomas Jefferson to edit the documents and make it official.

3.

Betsy Ross Did Not Design the American Flag...Betsy Ross is remembered as the creator of the original American flag, but there’s absolutely no evidence to support it, and the legend was invented by her grandson and the lie endured.

4.

Captain Cook Did Not Discover Australia...Captain James Cook is thought of as the guy who discovered Australia, but in reality he wasn’t even the first European, as it had been visited nearly 200 years before he got there.

5.

Feminists Never Burned Bras for Women's Liberation...The women’s liberation was believed to involve women burning bras, but the truth is when draft cards were burned, some bras were thrown into the fire and people assumed it was for women's rights.

6.

Henry Ford Did Not Invent the Assembly Line...Henry Ford is credited with inventing the assembly line, but it was actually a guy named Ransom Eli Olds who came up with the idea around the turn of the 20th century.

7.

Paul Revere Never Said "The British Are Coming"...The famous “midnight ride” of Paul Revere was primarily an invention of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, though Revere did spread the word - only he was one of about 40 guys doing it.

8.

Roman Vomitoriums Weren't Used for Vomiting...When you hear “vomitorium” you probably associate it with puking, but in reality it actually means “passageway” and refers to where you basically went in and out of buildings like the Coliseum.

9.

Slaves Didn't Build the Pyramids of Egypt...Paid builders, and not slaves, built the pyramids--and furthermore, the myth that they were Jewish slaves has been debunked by no less than the Hebrew University of Jerusalem--since Jews didn’t even exist then.

10.

The Nursery Rhyme "Ring Around the Rosie" is Not About the Plague...It’s believed this kid’s rhyme is about the black plague, but in reality it’s kind of like footloose--Protestants banned dancing in the 19th century so rhymes were created to circumvent that ban.

11.

The Plymouth Pilgrims Didn't Celebrate the First Thanksgiving...Pilgrims are credited with celebrating the first Thanksgiving but it turns out there’d been a similar feast in St. Augustine, Florida in 1565 with Spanish explorer Pedro Menendez de Aviles.

12.

There Were Actually Survivors at The Alamo...Despite what movies and legend have taught you, not everyone at the Alamo was killed, as there were many women and children there whose lives were spared, in addition to some soldiers.

13.

Thomas Edison Did Not Invent Electric Light...Sorry, Mr. Edison, but you were an out and out thief here, stealing your idea from a guy named Sir Humphry Davy, who invented the first electric light bulb in 1809.

14.

Vikings Never Wore Horned Helmets...The Vikings are pretty much synonymous with horned helmets, but there’s never been a shred of evidence they ever wore them, and it was an artistic embellishment over the years.

15.

Witches Were Never Burned at the Stake in Salem...The common myth is that the Salem witches were burned at the stake, but not a single one was executed that way, with hangings being the actual method used.