Historical Misconceptions That We Hate

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Hi all. I just want to make a thread about the historical misconceptions that I hate. Feel free to join in and add your own.

"Islam has always been hostile to other religions."

During the Middle Ages, Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians were allowed to practice their religions in the Islamic world. Meanwhile, in Medieval Europe, Jews and Christian heretics were greatly persecuted.

"Columbus discovered America."

Columbus never set foot on the North American continent. He explored Central America, South America and the Caribbean, but not North America.



"Black people never created anything without help from white people."

The Ghana Empire and the Mali Empire were both created without any help from wh***y.

"Most Ancient Greek people were wise philosophers."

Most Ancient Greek people were uneducated. Socrates was put to death for blasphemy and Plato had absolute contempt for the average Greek because he felt that most Greeks were stupid.

Also, Spartan society was extremely conservative and anti-intellectual.

"America was founded on Christian values."

Pre-independence America was deeply religious. This is what led to the Salem Witch Trials. America's founding fathers deliberately created a secular government because they didn't want any more witch burning to occur. Also, the phrase "under God" was not in the American Pledge of Allegiance until 1954.

"Jews absolutely need their own state in order to avoid persecution."

During the Middle Ages, Jews in India faced no persecution whatsoever.

"Socialism was invented by that godless antichrist Karl Marx."

The first self-proclaimed socialist - Henri de Saint-Simon - was a Christian. I use the phrase "self-proclaimed socialist" because many early human societies were socialist in terms of function ... though the word "socialism" did not exist at the time.

"Canada has always been the world's peacekeeper."

Canada sided with Suharto during the East Timor Genocide. Canadian nationalism is just as cancerous as any other type of nationalism.

I'll add more later if I can think of any. Feel free to add your own.

I'm sure the medieval Europeans did a lot of bad things but two wrongs don't make a right.

Related to recent news
The Nazi's invented eugenics.

The basic ideas came from a Brit and it became very popular and accepted in America. The Nazi's were inspired and influenced by American eugenics.

Native Americans are extinct. How many of us have heard this one?

As a child in the USA I equated "America" with "the USA". So yes, as a child, I was surprised when after poring over a history book that I couldn't find any mention of him landing anywhere in what is now the mainland USA ( though he did explore Puerto Rico).

But he did still discover "the Americas" (plural), aka "the New World". "Discovered" in the sense his voyage paved the way for European civilization's expansion into the New World when earlier adventurers like Leif Ericson's did not.

Among adults only a self centered Gringo would find it...newsworthy...that the USA is not the only part of the "Americas".

So ...I am not impressed with your "misconception"!



A more impressive misconception is the "falling off the edge of the earth thing". The deep seated belief that Columbus was the only dude who knew the world was round, and that even kings in Europe thought the world was flat.

It had been known for thousands of years that the earth was a sphere. In fact Ptolemy had actually measured the circumference of the earth to within 98 percent accuracy over 2000 years before Columbus. The issue was the SIZE not the shape.

Columbus was convinced that the islands of Japan were only six hundred miles west of the Azores. Basically he cut the planet's size in half to sell his scheme to his prospective royal sponsors. The skeptics (who went with Ptolomy's size) were actually closer to the truth. Like Pluto it was a discovery based upon a mistake.

Thanksgiving was a thing.

Yes, it's simplistic, but it's one of my biggest pet peeves. Also, the South just wanted "state's rights," and not slavery.

Only boys are on the AS spectrum and it is a "disease" limited to childhood. Yep, I hate that, and the ignorance it conveys is still present. Light it Up Blue crap continues reinforcing this stupid and misguided stereotype. Autism Speaks continues to lap it up.

"Centuries ago everyone dropped dead at 40"

"Charles Darwin started the idea of evolution" The idea of evolution existed long before Charles Darwin was around. He just added to the understanding of it.

I hate the one about the Vikings not really wearing horns. But only because I wish they did because it would have looked cool.