Browsing: Misconceptions

A Brief History Throughout history there have been phonies who liked to embellish their backgrounds.  Some claimed to be royalty, others claimed to be war heroes, and some even boasted academic achievements they never earned.  Perhaps you know people like this; for sure as heck we at History and Headlines do!  The author has worked with goofs who claimed to be Viet Nam veterans who certainly were not, and sometimes more famous people have claimed a war record to help them attain elected office, only to be revealed as frauds later.  Some researchers have even faked experiment results!  Here 10 egregious examples of liars who…

A Brief History On November 24, 1863, Union forces under the command of future President of the United States Ulysses S. Grant captured Lookout Mountain as part of the campaign to relieve the siege of Chattanooga, Tennessee by Confederate General Braxton Bragg.  Grant is known as the most successful Union general of the Civil War, and as the man most responsible for winning that war.  This much is true, but many of the other things we think we “know” about Grant are not so true. Digging Deeper For starters, Grant was not a drunkard.  As a young officer, he had a…

A Brief History On November 18, 1307, Swiss archer William Tell split an apple into two pieces on his son’s head with a well-aimed arrow.  For defying Austrian authority, both he and his son were to be executed, but their lives would be spared if Tell, an excellent marksman, could hit the apple.  Ever since, William Tell has been perhaps the greatest Swiss hero, the symbol of patriotism.  But was he real? Digging Deeper Written accounts of the incident only surfaced in the late 15th century, almost 170 years later.  It is typical that many events in history, be they real or…

A Brief History On October 26, 1881, Tombstone, Arizona was the site of what became known as “The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral,” probably the most famous shootout in the history of the Wild West.  Plenty of movies have been made about the incident, including one in 1957 by that same name, all of which got various aspects of the incident wrong.  Like most depictions of the gunfight, the 1957 film shows a long-ranged massive shootout whereas the real incident featured fewer guns, fewer shots and a much closer range in a fight that lasted perhaps 30 seconds.  Unlike the depiction…

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,…