27 Moments From History Everybody Gets Wrong

Taking a red pen to the history books
27 Moments From History Everybody Gets Wrong
Add Cracked to Google

Whether the historians got it wrong or the facts got misconstrued in a long game of generational telephone, you’ve been believing all kinds of historical falsities. It’s time we set the record straight. 

Apologies for the homework assignment, but you might want to write these down and keep them in your back pocket. You wouldn’t want to be the only person who still believes this nonsense, would you?  

300

CRACKED SPARTANS AS ANCIENT SUPER-SOLDIERS. It's a common misconception that Spartans were the best warriors in ancient Greece. In fact, there's no proof that they were particularly good at fighting in the Archaic period. Their fame mainly comes from their victory at the Battle of Thermopylae.

Benito Mussolini

CRACKED BENITO MUSSOLINI Mussolini was known for making the trains run on time, but this was more of a myth than reality. People who lived in Italy during his rule said that the railway system had already been improved before he and the fascists came to power.

Snopes 

The Founding Fathers

CRACKED.COM MYTH: The Founding Fathers were Christians. No matter who you include as a Founding Father, not all of them were Christian. Deism (which prioritizes human experience and rationality over religious dogma and texts) had a huge influence during their time.

Source

The War of the Worlds

NO, AMERICANS DIDN'T GO INTO A MASS FIGHT-OR-FLIGHTI PANIC WHEN THEY HEARD THE RADIO PLAY BROADCAST OF The War of the Worlds. You'd swear the US popul

Memorial Day

You'd think every state would have immediately supported Memorial Day. But before WWI, they didn't. Memorial Day began in 1868 as National Decoration

Aging

CRACKED Old people used to be rare. Contrary to popular belief, people in the past could live to be quite old. Archaeological evidence and records show that humans have been able to reach their 70s, 80s, and even 90s for the past 160,000 years.

The Grapefruit Diet

THE GRAPEFRUIT DIET Supposedly starting in the 1930s, the diet encourages you to eat one grapefruit before every low-carb meal. This is based on the (unfounded) belief that grapefruits can burn fat. CRACKED.COM

Source: Yahoo!

Swedish Meatballs

CRACKED COM Swedish meatballs are actually Turkish- The dish was introduced to Sweden by their monarch, King Charles XII, who had developed a taste for it while travelling throughout the Ottoman Empire.

Cowboy Hats

BELIEF: Cowboy hats were worn in beginning of the Western American frontier. TRUTH: The cowboy hat didn't become popular until after the American Civi

Spartan Children

No, spartans didn't throw their sick newborn babies off a freaking cliff. This myth was easily debunked when they did an archaeological dig at the inf

Lighters

Contrary to popular belief, lighters have been around longer than matchsticks. Chemist Johann Wolfgang Dobereiner invented the first lighter in 1823,

Roman Orgies

When you think of ancient Romans, think of orgies. you That's a rumor started by Christians. Ancient Romans were actually super prudish. Early Christi

British and German Soldiers Playing Nice

British and German soldiers engaged in bloody warfare during WWi. Yet they celebrated Christmas together. On Christmas Eve of 1914, the German frontli

The Pledge of Allegiance

You might think the Pledge of Allegiance was created by patriots. You'd be wrong. The Pledge of Allegiance was written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, who

Vomitoriums

Myth 'Vomitorium' is a designated place for ancient Romans to vomit everything they'd feasted on to stay in shape or to make room to eat more. Reality

Tags:

Scroll down for the next article

Must Read

VIRAL ON CRACKED

A WEEKLY
NEWSLETTER OF
JOKES + TRIVIA

Forgot Password?