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While we have much of the world’s information at our fingertips, there are still many historical myths people believe, even if they have been disproven. Human history is both fascinating and well... pretty damn long. There is a ridiculous amount of information about the past that has been lost, but thankfully, a lot of the big events and odd happenings were written down and catalogued. But with that said, there are some factual stories that get misconstrued and become popular enough that people don’t even realize these versions of events have been discredited. So, in short, here are five of the biggest historical lies that people still believe. 'Gavrilo Princip stopped for a sandwich just before assassinating Archduke Franz Ferdinand' The assassination that set the First World War into motion has always been a fascinating story. Multiple assassins had attempted to take the life of Franz Ferdinand, but had been unsuccessful. 19-year-old Gavrilo Princip did eventually successfully take the life of the Duke, but he wasn’t sitting eating a sandwich just before his attempt. The assassination happened by chance when the open-top car that Ferdinand was riding in took a wrong turn in the chaos of a bomb attack intended to take his life. In reality, the vehicle stopped on a street corner just in front of Princip as he exited a deli. Now, the myth of eating the sandwich isn’t a massive deviation from the truth, but the myth itself doesn’t come from any primary source material. 'People who were convicted of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts, were burned at the stake' While many may be aware of the 1692 Salem Witch Trials, people are less aware of the facts. Depictions in film and TV have often depicted those convicted of being burnt at the stake when this isn’t entirely accurate. While witch burnings did occur, they were mainly done during the medieval ages of Europe. According to Dr. John Howard Smith, a history professor at Texas A&M University-Commerce, those accused of being witches in Salem were hanged, not burned. He said: “The hangings didn't go as you see in films either—with a platform and a trap door. They turned victims off a ladder, so they slowly strangled to death. They didn't break their necks and have ‘lights out' like it happened in later hangings.” 'George Washington's false teeth were made out of wood' You would hope that this myth would have long died out but it is still so prevalent that the George Washington Mount Vernon museum has a whole page dedicated to debunking it. The page reads: “The story that George Washington wore wooden dentures arguably remains the most widespread and enduring myth about Washington's personal life. “While Washington certainly suffered from dental problems and wore multiple sets of dentures composed of a variety of materials—including ivory, gold, lead, and human teeth—wood was never used in Washington's dentures nor was it commonly employed by dentists in his era.” The museum even notes that older adults will likely remember being taught this in school and have admitted that many visitors find this myth fascinating despite it not being true. 'Columbus was the first European to discover America' Christopher Columbus is painted as being an American hero, depending on who you ask, and even has a national holiday celebrating his apparent accomplishment of ‘discovering’ America. But in reality, that isn’t quite true, considering he never actually set foot in North America. While it is true he did sail from Europe to the Americas, he spent his time in the central and southern American coastline nations. But even more interesting, the North American continent had already been explored an estimated 500 years before Columbus was born by Norse explorer Leif Erikson. He reached a land which he called Vinland, better known now as Newfoundland, Canada. 'Napoleon was abnormally short' This myth might be on its way out, as every other YouTube video loves to include it in its lists of debunked myths. But then again, it could persist as we still use the term ‘Napoleon complex’ to describe a short person quick to anger or who attempts to overcompensate for their height. This myth has likely continued due to really successful propaganda pushed by the British that often depicted the French leader as shorter than his fellow men. It is estimated that Napoleon stood at around 5’6, 5’7, which was actually quite tall for the time, as the average Frenchman was said to be between 5’2 and 5’6.
