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14 Historical 'Facts' That Are Completely False
Business Insider ^ | 11/19/2013 | CHRISTINA STERBENZ

Posted on 11/19/2013 4:45:19 PM PST by SeekAndFind

Blame Hollywood, the media, and even history teachers for perpetuating certain totally ridiculous or unfounded "facts" about history. We're here to debunk some of the biggest myths.

1. Jewish slaves didn't build the pyramids. This popular myth reportedly stems from comments made by former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin when visiting Egypt in 1977, according to Amihai Mazar, professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

"No Jews built the pyramids because Jews didn't exist at the period when the pyramids were built," Mazar told the AP.

Recent archaeological finds actually show that Egyptians built the pyramids themselves.

"The myth of the slaves building pyramids is only the stuff of tabloids and Hollywood," Dieter Wildung, a former director of Berlin's Egyptian Museum, told the AP. "The world simply could not believe the pyramids were build without oppression and forced labor, but out of loyalty to the pharaohs."

2. Cleopatra wasn't Egyptian. Cleopatra belonged to the Ptolemaic dynasty, a family of Greek origin that ruled Egypt after Alexander the Great. Her family actually refused to speak Egyptian, and she was the first to learn the language.

The misconception about her nationality may have arisen from the way she represented herself in public — as the reincarnation of Isis, an Egyptian goddess.

3. Vikings didn't wear horned-helmets. Archaeological evidence doesn't show any evidence of horned-helmets. Death sites instead tell us most Viking warriors went bare-headed or wore leather headgear, according to The History Channel.

This popular, albeit false, image of burly men striding into battle with horns apparently dates back to the 1800s, when Swedish artist Gustav Malmströmstems included the imagery in his work. Some of Wagner's operas also included costumes with horned-helmets.

(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...


TOPICS: History
KEYWORDS: historicalfacts; history; partisanmediashill; partisanmediashills; strawmen; thejooooooooooooooos
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To: Revolting cat!

Ahhh, missed your comment! That is a classic.


21 posted on 11/19/2013 5:09:20 PM PST by Freestate316 (Know what you believe and why you believe it.)
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To: SeekAndFind

FDR’s “New Deal” socialist programs didn’t get us out of the great depression, in fact most honest economists say they actually prolonged and deepened the depression, which finally ended due to the massive industrial buildup of WW II...


22 posted on 11/19/2013 5:14:43 PM PST by apillar
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To: SeekAndFind

* Before Columbus, everyone already knew the world was round


23 posted on 11/19/2013 5:18:04 PM PST by Claud
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To: workerbee

When anyone talks about the “simpler” times, I have this for them for them: modern dentistry (and anesthetics!!)


24 posted on 11/19/2013 5:22:39 PM PST by ChildOfThe60s ((If you can remember the 60s.....you weren't really there)
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To: SeekAndFind
"The world simply could not believe the pyramids were build without oppression and forced labor, but out of loyalty to the pharaohs."

Just because the Jews didn't build them, I find it very difficult to believe it was done voluntarily.

25 posted on 11/19/2013 5:24:20 PM PST by ChildOfThe60s ((If you can remember the 60s.....you weren't really there)
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To: SeekAndFind

Sarah Palin did NOT say, “I can see Russia from my house”.


26 posted on 11/19/2013 5:27:43 PM PST by machogirl (First they came for my tagline)
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To: SeekAndFind

FDR did not get us out of the Great Depression!


27 posted on 11/19/2013 5:32:21 PM PST by hamboy
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To: SeekAndFind

“according to the History Channel” is in this article three times LOL!

Fun anyway.


28 posted on 11/19/2013 5:35:25 PM PST by mrsmith (Dumb sluts: Lifeblood of the Media, Backbone of the Democrat Party!)
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To: SeekAndFind

The New Deal did not end the Great Depression.


29 posted on 11/19/2013 5:36:15 PM PST by untwist (One Bad-Assed Mistake, America!)
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To: SeekAndFind
3. Vikings didn't wear horned-helmets.

WRONG!

30 posted on 11/19/2013 5:37:42 PM PST by dfwgator (Fire Muschamp.)
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To: apillar

which finally ended due to the massive industrial buildup of WW II...

That is a BIG myth. WWII did NOT end the depression. Everything that was build during the war was destroyed by the war.


31 posted on 11/19/2013 5:45:26 PM PST by DManA (enis)
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To: SeekAndFind
Jewish slaves didn't build the pyramids.

That brings to mind a children's song from my youth:

Pharaoh built a pyramid reaching to the sky.
Needed lots of slaves he did to make it stand up high
Pity those poor Israelites,
Working days and toiling nights.
Let my people go.

32 posted on 11/19/2013 5:48:37 PM PST by Fiji Hill (Io Triumphe!)
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To: SeekAndFind
Recent archaeological finds actually show that Egyptians built the pyramids themselves.

Yep, a sort of couvée, required labor of free (depending on your definition) civilians, usually done under religious auspices. At least that's the current cover story.

But it was aliens.

Paul Revere never yelled, "The British are coming!" ...Paul Revere needed to keep his knowledge of the Brits' arrival on the down-low. British troops had already camped out across the Massachusetts countryside...

Well, sort of - they were patrolling and in fact, one of their patrols captured Revere, took his horse, and let him go on foot. Those were largely troops that had been there for awhile and had achieved a modus vivendi with the fractious Colonials. What changed was that the new ones in town didn't recognize this arrangement and ended up firing live ammunition at Parker and his men at Lexington Green, to the latter's astonishment. What Revere was yelling - and of course he was yelling, he was utilizing the alerting mechanism that had been in use during the French and Indian Wars - was "the Regulars are coming!" The new kids in town were taking the thing to another level. Revere had boasted to his captors that they'd raise 500 men before the British reached Concord. By the time it was over it was more like 2500.

33 posted on 11/19/2013 5:51:29 PM PST by Billthedrill
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To: SeekAndFind
Cleopatra wasn't Egyptian. Cleopatra belonged to the Ptolemaic dynasty, a family of Greek origin that ruled Egypt after Alexander the Great.

In his book The Life and Times of Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt (Garden City, NY: Garden City, 1924), Arthur Weigall wrote that Cleopatra was the only member of the Ptolemaic dynasty to learn the Egyptian language spoken by most of her subjects.

34 posted on 11/19/2013 5:54:38 PM PST by Fiji Hill (Io Triumphe!)
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To: JoeProBono

Nice!


35 posted on 11/19/2013 5:56:49 PM PST by Jet Jaguar
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To: machogirl

Exactly, that came from Saturday Night Live etc.

And people think Cary Grant used to say “Jud-y, Jud-y, Jud-y”. Actually actor/impressionist Larry Storch was in the middle of imitating Grant in a club and someone told him Judy Garland walked in, and he started to say that in Grant’s voice.
Thus the mistaken idea that it was a Grant saying.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090214170331AAjwcKz

>>Legend has it that Storch was in the middle of a Grant impersonation when Judy Garland walked in. Apparently, this is how he addressed the star. Even though the line was never said in any of Grant’s movies, Storch’s impression inexplicably stuck and was often used by other impressionists.


36 posted on 11/19/2013 5:59:18 PM PST by raccoonradio
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To: SeekAndFind

37 posted on 11/19/2013 6:11:50 PM PST by Fiji Hill (Io Triumphe!)
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To: SeekAndFind

Blücher is not German for glue.


38 posted on 11/19/2013 6:13:40 PM PST by DManA (enis)
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To: SeekAndFind
2. Cleopatra wasn't Egyptian. Cleopatra belonged to the Ptolemaic dynasty, a family of Greek origin that ruled Egypt after Alexander the Great. Her family actually refused to speak Egyptian, and she was the first to learn the language.

Over the years I have been personally assured more than once by black acquaintances that Celopatra was "African-American." Not kidding.

39 posted on 11/19/2013 6:16:50 PM PST by Dysart (Obamacare: "We are losing money on every subscriber-- but we will make it up in volume!")
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To: SeekAndFind
* Paul Revere never yelled, “The British are coming!”

This one made an appearance a week ago on an episode of "Sleepy Hollow" (think X-files, but with the supernatural not aliens and Ichabod Crane, back from a 240 year dirt nap instead of Fox Mulder).

Crane was in a museum and completely flipped out at a tour guide about the stories (including "The British are coming") the guide was telling people about Revere.

The series actually has a pretty Conservative spin on a lot of things. Crane being incredibly offended at a 10% tax on food and wondering why people hadn't taken up arms over it yet ... it's probably the best-written show on network tv right now.
40 posted on 11/19/2013 6:24:33 PM PST by tanknetter
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