The True History of Seven Popular History Myths, Part I
Don't know much about history? Then you'll be happy to see these history myths fall by the wayside.
Some scholars spend their entire careers trying to set the facts straight about history myths. And yet these myths persist, probably because they're bite-sized ways to make history simple and interesting.
This is no surprise, really, since there's so much history to learn about, and it tends to be so complex -- and, ultimately, so mundane. But that doesn't mean we can't keep trying! In this two-part article, we'll introduce you to the reality behind some common myths about history. Let's get right to it, shall we?
Myth 1: Napoleon was really short.
This history myth derives literally from a mismeasure of the man. It's true that Napoleon Bonaparte measured five feet two inches, but that was in post-Revolutionary French feet. After ousting their royalty, the French changed a lot of things about their culture, including their calendar and units of measurement.
French inches and feet were longer than the Imperial British measurements we use; so Napoleon was almost five feet, seven inches tall by our measure, slightly taller than the average Frenchman of the day. This is reflected in contemporary paintings, in which he appears about the same height as everyone else.
Myth 2: The Chinese invented gunpowder, but never used it for warfare.
There's a persistent history myth that claims that while the Chinese invented gunpowder, they used it only for fripperies like fireworks and noisemakers; it would take European ingenuity to apply it to warfare. Not so. The Chinese made extensive use of both gunpowder arrows and flamethrowers from AD 900 on.
Myth 3: Betsy Ross designed and sewed the first American flag.
According to her grandson William J. Cansby, Betsy Ross was hired to create the first American flag at the behest of George Washington, who visited her in person in 1776. This was the story published in Atlantic Monthly in 1870, and within a decade it was enshrined in school books as historical fact.
But the story was little more than an oral tradition in Canby's family. Ross was in fact a flagmaker, and to her credit was a strong female role-model who supported her family alone in the face of numerous personal tragedies. But there's no evidence that the events chronicled in this classic history myth ever occurred.
Ross kept detailed records of all her business transactions, and left no mention of this one anywhere. And the truth is, the government never even considered a national flag until 1777.
Myth 4: Charles Lindbergh was the first person to fly across the Atlantic nonstop.
In fact, it seems that 66 people did it before him. Two Brits beat him in 1919, and later two dirigibles (one British, the other German) made the trip safely, carrying 64 passengers between them. This particular history myth arose because Lindbergh's 1927 trip was the first nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic.
