A Brief History
On September 22, 1692, eight people convicted of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials were executed by hanging. The trials took place between February 1692 and May 1693 and resulted in the execution of twenty people, most of them women. Contrary to the common belief that witches were typically burned, most of those condemned in Salem and the surrounding areas died by hanging.
Digging Deeper
As in our previous article on 10 Things History Got Wrong about Women, this article explores 10 more common misconceptions involving women in history. These misconceptions may be due to legend, malicious gossip, Hollywood depictions, incorrect reporting, false beliefs, assumptions and guessing or even simple ignorance.
For more generalized lists involving historical falsehoods, please also see articles from the series History Got it Wrong, parts one, deux, drei, quarto and five (movie edition). But now on with the women…
1) Mary Magdalene was a Prostitute
For years, Christians were taught that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute and that Jesus’ acceptance of her showed that he did not judge her and was welcoming and forgiving of all “sinners.” It turns out, however, that her identity had been merged with that of an unnamed sinner who anointed Jesus’ feet. None of the four gospels in the New Testament in which she is mentioned made any reference to her being a prostitute. The image of her as a repentant prostitute was most likely due to a misconception that then got propagated en masse within the Western Christian Church during the Middle Ages but somehow was not picked up by Eastern Orthodox Christianity. This image was so prevailing that until recently it influenced most of the art that ever depicted her as well as just about all of the movies, plays and musicals in which her character had a role. She is even the patroness of “wayward women,” and the Magdalene asylums that were established in the 18th century to help save women from prostitution were named after her.
2) Lady Jane Grey was Queen of England for 9 Days
Queen Jane never formally existed. At the time of Edward VI’s death, his sister Mary Tudor automatically become queen as stipulated by the Third Succession Act of 1543 that was passed by Parliament and that had restored Mary and Elizabeth Tudor to the line of succession after their brother Edward, despite their illegitimacy. This had been the wish of their father Henry VIII who followed it up with the Treason Act of 1547 that made it high treason to interrupt that line of succession. His son and immediate successor, Edward VI was Protestant and not did wish for his Catholic sister to follow him on the throne. As he lay dying, he wrote a legal letter in which he named his cousin Lady Jane Grey his successor in place of Mary. This order, however, did not override the two acts that had been passed by Parliament, and it cost Jane, the poor Protestant pawn, her head.
3) The Women Condemned at the Salem Witch Trials Were Burned at the Stake
As stated in the introduction, most of the people convicted of witchcraft at the Salem Witch Trials and condemned to die were executed by hanging. The idea of burning goes back to Europe and the time of the Reformation when Protestant “heretics” were burned by Catholics. The most famous examples are “Bloody Mary” and the Spanish Inquisition. It must be noted, however, that Queen Mary I of England, a.k.a. “Bloody Mary” was no more “bloody” than any of her counterparts. With “only” 280 victims in 5 years, she was quite “tame” by the standards of the day. In other parts of Europe, this policy of burning later extended to witches, as laid down by the Constitutio Criminalis Carolina of 1532, a penal code that defined crimes and punishments, the punishment for witchcraft being “execution by fire.” Burning, however, seemed to be a Catholic phenomenon, and those involved with the Salem Witch Trials were Puritan. Perhaps that is why they opted for hanging because they themselves had often been persecuted and punished with the flame for their beliefs.
4) American Women Could Not Vote Before the 19th Amendment was Passed in 1920
It is commonly assumed that no American women was able to vote before the 19th Amendment was passed in 1920. This was not the case. Individual states had individual laws, and some states based the right to vote off of property. That meant that widowed women with significant property or single women who had inherited enough acreage could vote. If female landowners married, however, their property automatically became that of their husbands, and he would assume the right to vote.
5) Agatha Christie Planned to Commit Suicide in Order to Frame Her Husband’s Mistress for Her “Murder”
In 1926 famous mystery novelist Agatha Christie famously went missing for 10 days. She had quarreled with her husband about his girlfriend and then took off. After an extensive manhunt, she was finally found in a hotel having registered under an assumed name. Doctors attributed her disappearance to a case of amnesia. The public reaction was not positive, with many claiming it was a publicity stunt or her attempt to raise suspicion that her husband had murdered her. The 1979 film Agatha elaborated on the latter belief and explained the disappearance as part of Christie’s plan to commit suicide and frame the mistress for her “murder.” This plot was vehemently contested by Christie’s heirs, but with Christie never voicing herself to this incident during her life, in fact she omitted it from her autobiography, all that the public can do is speculate and create imaginary scenarios.
6) Marie Curie Died of Cancer
Many people believe Marie Curie died of cancer caused by the radiation she studied. There is even a charity in Great Britain known as Marie Curie Cancer Care which provides services to terminally ill people. Instead Marie Curie died of aplastic anemia. In Curie’s time, the effects of radiation were not yet known, so safety measures such as protective clothing had not yet been implemented. It is commonly assumed that her illness was a direct result of radiation exposure, however, she did not die of cancer. Aplastic anemia is a disease of the bone marrow in which the blood stem cells that are found there are damaged and cannot produce enough new blood cells. The sufferer is then left feeling fatigued and with a higher risk of infection and uncontrolled bleeding. Despite her brilliance (She was the first women to win a Nobel Prize, and she won two of them!!!) and her achievements (the theory of radioactivity and the discovery of 2 elements), Curie never acknowledged that her health woes could be due to her line of work.
7) A Picture of Rita Hayworth was NOT on the Atom Bomb
This one is confusing. At the conclusion of World War II, the United States wanted to further develop the capabilities of atom bombs. Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean was selected as a testing location in 1946. There was the long-standing belief that Rita Hayworth’s picture was on an atomic bomb. Then recent research suggested that only the name “Gilda,” her most iconic role and the one that gave her bombshell status, was etched on the bomb. Even the Wikipedia article on Rita Hayworth incorrectly states that her image was never on the bomb and elaborates on this extensively. The author of this article, however, found a radio broadcast by Rita’s husband, Orson Welles, that confirms that her picture was on the bomb (see above Youtube video). Furthermore, the author also found a picture of the bomb that shows both the name “Gilda” AND an image of Hayworth.
8) Before She Died, Eva Peron uttered the Quotation, “I will return, and I will be millions.”
The quote “I will return, and I will be millions.” is falsely believed to have been uttered by Eva Peron. She is supposed to have said it before she died. If she did do so, what did she mean by it? That she would live on in the millions of her Argentinean countrymen and women? That there would be millions on little “Evitas” running around emulating her? No point in speculation though since she never said it. Instead it is from a poem by José Maria Castiñeira de Dios which he wrote in Evita’s first-hand narrative more than 10 years after her death. In other words a fictional account by someone else is now attributed to her.
9) Marilyn Monroe was a Size 16!
This famous misconception that is often used by “more rounded” girls to feel somewhat better about themselves is false. Although Marilyn’s weight fluctuated, she was never as large as a modern-day size 16. Of course, it is difficult to say what exactly a size 16 is, since there are no standardized measurements, and every clothing manufacturer comes up with their own definitions, often keeping the vanity and insecurities of their female customers in mind. In other words, a size 16 in the 1950s is not what a size 16 would be today, and size 16 by company A would not be a size 16 coming from company B. So, with nothing much to go by, the author used herself as a comparison, and luckily both Marilyn and the author share the same height and weight (approx. 5’5” and 120 lbs). To make accommodations for body shape, the author even took out the measuring tape, and determined that Marilyn had a smaller waist and hips than her (only the bust was larger). The author is a size 6 or 8. That means Marilyn could not have worn a larger size. And to those who say she gained weight and became fat, even the author was once heavier at 150+ pounds and never wore a size larger than a 10. It is safe to assume Marilyn was never a size 16, 14 or even 12 for that matter. Maybe in 1950s sizes but certainly not in modern-day sizes.
10) Sarah Palin said, “I can see Russia from my house!”
In September 11, 2008 interview by Charles Gibson of ABC News, Sarah Palin is supposed to have famously uttered the words, “And I can see Russia from my house!” This was not the case. Instead she said of the Russians, “They’re our next-door neighbors. And you can actually see Russia, from land, here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska.” The former quotation actually came from a Saturday Night Live skit in which Tina Fey famously impersonated the vice-presidential candidate. This situation can be described as life imitating art; the comedic sketch was so popular that the public began attributing the quote to the real person and not the character. The actual quotation, however, came from an edited part of the interview, where key parts that led up to that statement had been omitted. This editing might have been done to make poor Sarah seem simple when it came to foreign affairs. At any rate, the SNL skit solidified that public perception of her.
Question for students (and subscribers): Were you aware of any of these misconceptions? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Cade, Jared. Agatha Christie and the Eleven Missing Days: The Revised and Expanded 2011 Edition. Peter Owen Publishers, 2011.
Higgs, Liz Curtis. Unveiling Mary Magdalene: Discover the Truth About a Not-So-Bad Girl of the Bible. WaterBrook, 2004.
Roach, Marilynne K. The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege. Taylor Trade Publishing, 2004.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="5200 http://www.crackedhistory.com/?p=5200">57 Comments
This was an interesting article, I had no idea about most of it. Especially the hanging rather than burning of the witches. I was under the belief that during the trials the witches were burned. -AD
This article was pretty cool. It is interesting that there are misunderstanding and inconsistencies that were written down. The only one on this list I knew was the one about Mary Magdalene not being a prostitute.
I found this article to be interesting. Things often get misconstrued, and this shows. I didn’t know about any of these articles. I thought it was interesting that Agatha Christie planned her suicide to frame her husbands mistress for her murder. – DM
I never heard of half of these but I did see the SNL episode about Sarah Palin, so I already knew that one.
I always thought it was true about soldiers drawing pictures onto bombs not sure if the article said they do or don’t, seems like they did? I thought the others were entertaining and I was familiar with most of them. History and Legends seem to get mixed a lot and is the cause for many misinterpratations that we have today about women and other peoples
I was very surprised to see the lack of diversity of women. I feel talking about women’s rights and not including women who are latina, black, indian,native american, and or biracial isn’t fair to assess the false history without women with these backgrounds as well. I would like to see more diversity of women in a similar misconception article about women. I will say I was very shocked to read Marie Curie didn’t die of cancer because that is what I have always heard. And about the voting for women’s suffrage I never knew a few could vote. However, I would argue this was probably only a few selective women who could do so and the movement was for a wider range (big picture) for women to do so. I really enjoyed this article and would like to see more like this.
Dear Jivey, Thank you for reading my article. Regarding diversity, I always try to include women from all backgrounds and cultures. It is just that the recorded history of “white” women is older and more comprehensive than for the other races, and so there are more examples. In this article, however, there are two women who could be considered Latinas: Rita Hayworth was half Spanish and was a trained flamenco dancer who in her early movies was often portrayed as a Mexican; and Eva Peron was South American. In my first article on the misconceptions surrounding women (http://www.crackedhistory.com/cracked-history-presents-10-things-history-got-wrong-women-1/), I mention Pocahontas who is Native American. In my series on women who had famously been naked at some point in their lives (http://www.crackedhistory.com/naked-ladies/), I ensured that it was diverse and included African Americans, Africans, Asians and Latinas. Again, whites and Western women predominate, but that is, as I have already explained, due to the greater quantity of known examples from history.
I found the one about Agatha Christie’s death to be the most interesting (probably because I am reading “And Then There Were None.” It’s like when real life plagiarises fiction.
-JH!
Marilyn Monroe was not a size 16?! I only wish that I could show the world this information. The amount of publicity she gets for being heavier and they way she is idolized by people who weigh more makes me laugh. It’s amazing how history can get twisted around and make a lot of things people believe in incorrect.
This article makes me wonder what other misconceptions we have on history or what else history has gotten wrong, regarding men or women.
I’ve never heard of these wrong facts before. I did see the SNL episode while writing a paper so I had learned about that previously.
I never knew that Mary Magdelene wasn’t a prostitute, I have always been taught that Jesus forgave her for her sins. I’m also surprised to find out that not all women were banned from voting until 1920. So not all of America wasn’t discriminating towards women.
I am shocked to hear about all these misconceptions in history, I feel like I have been living my life a lie. I’m shocked Mary Magdelene wasn’t a prostitute. It’s cool to know the truth behind the history though.
I would like to say that these surprise me, but I feel like a lot of facts are blown out of proportion now. It’s hard to believe anything you see on the internet, or what the media puts out.
it is strange to know that facts are not always facts and how history will change and twist certain things
It’s interesting to see how history can be blurred by popular media. I have heard the myth about Marilyn Monroe before, but it is interesting that my high school covered the Salem Witch Trials so much and I never knew that they were hanged and not burned.
Its is always very surprising to see where the truth about people started and then how they are viewed today
Very interesting, but not shocking that facts from history can be made up. All of these ideas are very believable, but the real facts obviously prove there falsehood. The Agatha Christie misconception is very similar to the new movie Gone Girl, which I found quite interesting.
It definitely can be seen that the media has a huge influence in the way we view people and different events in history, which can be seen in this article through different shows, movies, and articles. It seems that everyone believes what they see and hear on television.
Its strange to think about these things because one never knows the full story of history.
Really enjoyed the facts. It’s amazing how the truth can be altered and misunderstood.
Very interesting that they put a picture on an atom bomb. I also never knew that Sarah Palin never actually said that very famous “quote.”
N.W.
Some of these misunderstandings just go to show how people can misinterpret and spread incorrect information. It is like a game of telephone that has real world implications for the reputations of some of these women.
I think a lot of times people like to believe rumors like these because they are simply more interesting than the truth even if they are unfounded.
I prefer facts instead of rumors. Rumors just cause speculation.
Regarding the history that we all have been taught, what portions of it is true, and what may just be myths. We will not ever have all the answers but we can have some.
This was really interesting to me. It is easy for rumors to get spread, or facts to get twisted into false statements and this article really touched basis on some accusations that I would have believed otherwise.
Facts and truth get harder to see as time goes on. It is interesting to read these and realize something you have thought for years was really wrong. The most interesting is probably the witch trials one because we have been discussing this.
I think that people will believe what ever they want no matter what is fact and what is fiction. That however doesn’t make everything that we hear right. I find it interesting though that just because it is alleged that Queen Mary I was said to burn people at the stake that is then believed that during the time of the Salem Witch Trials they also burn people being accused as a witch.
This article was very interesting to read and to see how ridiculous and gullible people actually are.
I find it funny that people actually believe some of these claims because of rumors and not knowing enough about things,
Looks like stories are perceived the wrong way, sometimes because “burning at the stake” sounds better than hanging for story telling purposes.
I find it interesting that Agatha Christie never gave an account of her ten day vanishing act. Though if she wanted privacy badly enough to drop off the radar completely for ten days, it’s understandable that it isn’t something she would necessarily want to talk about. I am a fan of the Dr. Who version of events though.
Marilyn is always interesting to learn about! It’s interesting how a size 16 in her time is like a size 6 today.
One thing that this really teaches you is that a rumor can
really make a difference all of these started with something false that has
just been spread overtime and accepted as a fact.
People will believe anything here. I’m glad articles like this exist in order to educate people more on generally misunderstood topics.
This happens all the time with our modern media and social networks. Fake news reports, innaccurate facts now more than ever create a new “truth”. It is very important today to check the credibility of your source. Also, it is best to use original primary sources when it comes to historical information.
I learned some new information from this article. These are very good because they teach people correctly.
This article taught me new information of these women! Very interesting!
A PICTURE OF RITA WASNT ON THE A BOMB… My life is a lie. I can’t believe how misunderstood some influential women in history actually are.
Wow is it good to know that companies play on our vanity depending on what they view a specific size to be. I thought I was crazy for wearing different sized jeans at a lot of different stores!
I like the part about Marilyn Monroe being a size 16,if people actually believe that she was what is considered a size 16 in today’s society they must be blind.
Marilyn Monroe is shown in pictures as much smaller than a size 16 in my opinion.. but our sizes now could be different than what they were during her time
Marilyn size was voluptuous! Numbers don’t really matter
Very interesting article. I personally didn’t know that truth or even the false claims made about most of these facts.
It is very interesting that history can be so misinterpreted and changed over time. His article was pretty interesting and really makes me think about what other things may be common misconceptions.
All it takes is media telling us one thing and we basically take it as fact without question. It’s so hard to find accurate information without any form of manipulation or influence changing what we believe to be real or true.
I liked the part involving Mary Magdalene and discussing the previous thoughts that she was a prostitute. In some accounts in different Gospels, the translations refer to Jesus kissing her, was she Jesus’ lover? We may never know.
The whole story is completely different then i had thought, thats history for you.
I knew Marie Curie was the first woman to win a noble prize for her amazing contributions to science, but I never really knew why she died until I read this article.
is anything i learned in middle school true?
#5 was very interesting.
This article was interesting i was not to shocked by what i read
a lot of times myths and legends come about and we don’t know the true history so it is was to see how women were wrongly perpetuated too.
Seems like so much of what i was taught was just wrong.
That is funny about Marilyn Monroe, I would have never guessed she only weighted 120lbs.
Why was everything Ive ever learned said to be wrong in this article ?? Maybe we have it all backwards.