- History is an important topic
that we all learn in school. Either from our teacher or
from that y'know big metal TV cart that they use to roll into class. It made us all so happy. You know what I'm talking about. But what if I told you that
some of the things you learned about history are rather inaccurate. This is Myths You Still Believe, the series all about explaining
the truth behind todays most commenly believed myths. Today we're going to look
far back into the past and reveal the truth about
some of the newly found lies about the oldest of times. This is seven historical
myths you still believe. Edison invented the light bulb. For over a century, Thomas Edison has been praised for his incredible inventions. In fact, with over 1093
patents to his name, it shouldn't be surprising
that some inventions have been credited to him unfairly. One of the biggest being the
thing that we use everyday, the lightbulb. Over 40 years before Edison was even born, the light bulb was invented
by an English scientist named Sir Humphry Davy
yet Edison is the one who receives all the credit to this day. This is mostly because
Davy's bulb could only last around 12 hours before the filament broke. Edison, or more specifically
his lab technicians, found the right filament
that would burn for days which granted was a great achievement. It's just that the light bulb
itself was not his invention, he simply improved upon it. Napolean was a dwarf. Napoleon Bonaparte, a military strategist
and political figure, rose to power and became
a leader for France during the French Revolution. Despite his many victories
and legendary leadership, it was widely believe, even to this day, that he was a little person. Well, this myth can
actually be traced back to several sources however, the main one being British
propaganda and his nickname which he acquired early
in his military career, named The Little Corporal. Suprisingly, this title
actually has nothing to do with his size but instead
mocked his low rank when he was the first to successfully
lead units into victory. In truth, Napoleon stood about
five feet, six inches, which is in no way considered a dwarf. Now, that being said of
course he wasn't the tallest of generals but definitely
not the shortest. George Washington was
America's first president. Woo, this one's going to
blow some of your minds. See, while Napoleon was leading a revolution to liberate France, the man most consider to be the first President of the United States
was making it well known that America was not
going to get involoved. However, and get ready for this one, George Washington was technically
not the first president. (explosion noise) No. In fact, the United States in Congress assembled, appointed Peyton Randolf
the first president during the American
Revolution and Washington was quickly made the Commander of the new American Continental Army. Eight years after General
Washington's forces defeated the British, he became America's first popularly elected president. The first president under
the new Constitution, yes, but in actuality he
was the 15th president to lead the United States. Viking wore horned helmets. The idea that Vikings, a battle hardened group that practice more strategy than you might think, would wear such a ridiculous
thing into battle is completely false despite what most of us
thought all of these years. In reality, horns on a helmet would simply
give the enemy something to aim for when trying to
knock the head protection off of the Viking or when
trying to grab something to pull the warrior down. No, actually archaeological
evidence indicates that most Vikings went bare-headed
or wore leather head gear, sometimes reinforced with wood. A probable source of this
myth is found in romanticized versions of Viking art work that appeared around the mid 17th
century to 18th century and was popularized in the 19th century. The USA became independent
on July 4th, 1776. Once again America, get ready to have your world rattled. When the night sky lights
up next 4th of July, remember what you're
actually celebrating America. Now while it is definitely true that the Declaration of Independence
was signed by the Founding Fathers of the
United States on July 4, 1776, the war actually lasted
another seven years. The truth is, independence was
officially won from England on September 3, 1783, when
British King George III and US leaders signed the
definitive Treaty of Peace. This truly marked the
beginning of a free America and what's celebrated on July
4th isn't the official day of true freedom but
instead the anniversary of the Declaration of
Independence being signed. Witches were burned at
the Salem Witch Trials. Modern pop-culture has
given life to this myth. During the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, over 150 people were arrested
under the ignorant suspicion of being a user of dark magic. Of them, 31 were tried and 20 were executed. Also, of the 31 who were tried, six of them were actually men. While movies and dark novels will tell you about witches being tied to large trunks and burned as they stood there screaming this was actually not
the method of execution. The witches were actually all hanged, except for one who was crushed
to death with heavy rocks. Ouchy! Columbus first claimed
that the Earth was round. When Christopher Columbus
set sail on the first of his four voyages from Spain on August 3, 1492, his intention was exploration, not a science exposition to
prove the shape of the Earth. In fact, it was the ancient Greeks
who were among the first to claim that the world was round, so by the 15th century
there was barely anyone who still believed that the world was flat, though Columbus actually
believe it to be pear shaped This myth was created by
author Washington Irving, over 500 years after the
discovery of America. Irving's biography of
Columbus twisted the motives for his journey in an attempt
to prove to sceptical royalty that they were wrong
about the world being flat and that falsehood is still
widely believed to this day. And now you're just a little bit smarter! Take these to your history teacher. I wanted to remind you guys, that you can now watch all
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