9 historical myths
December 22nd 2008 20:46
Van Gogh sliced off his ear
In 1989 John Russell, an arts correspondent for The New York Times, reporting on the acquisition of a van Gogh by the Museum of Modern Art, stated that van Gogh "cut off a part of his right ear". Russell, and one of the world's great newspapers, had fallen for a myth which had been around since 23 December, 1888, the day Vincent van Gogh cut off the lower lobe of his left ear. Russell did better than some - it is often reported than van Gogh cut off his whole right ear. The mix-up between right and left is explained by a van Gogh self-portrait (pictured), complete with bandaging, done days after the event and painted as seen in a mirror.
Slaves built the pyramids
The pyrmaids were built by free men, mostly farm workers who worked on the pyramids in summer when the Nile flooded and farm work was not possible. Donald Redford, professor of Classics and ancient Mediterranean studies at America's Penn State, says, "The image most people have of slaves being forced to build the pyramids against their will is incorrect. The peasants who worked on the pyramids were given tax breaks and were taken to 'pyramid cities' where they were given shelter, food and clothing."
Pythagoras' theorem was discovered by Pythagoras
The theorem - the square of the hypotenuse of a right triangle is equal to the sum of the squares on the other two sides - was known to the Egyptians and the Babylonians long before Pythagoras was born. Pythagoras, who lived from about 570 to 490 BC, was an eminent Greek philosopher and scholar, but it remains debatable whether he contributed anything of significance to mathematics.
Statue of Pythagoras in the harbour of Pythagorio, Samos, Greece
Mickey was the creation of Ub Iwerks (born Ubbe Ert Iwwerks). He was Disney's senior animator and considered by many to be his oldest friend. Iwerks animated Mickey's first short film, Plane Crazy (1928), on his own in two weeks, creating about 700 drawings a day to do so. Walt Disney gained some Mickey Mouse-related credit later – in his first cartoon with sound, Disney played Mickey's voice.
The Philistines were philistines
The Philistines occupied the southern coast of Canaan from about 1160 BC. They engaged in sea trade with the Phoenicians and they dominated the iron smithing industry of the day. For an example of their iron smithing skills, see the biblical description of Goliath's armour. The term philistine is used in modern English to denote ignorance and lack of sophistication, a meaning which has its root in the Bible. But the Philistines were in fact a civilised and cultured people. How did this happen? In what must be one of the earliest examples of political interference in journalistic integrity, the Philistines, who were enemies of the Hebrews, got bad press in the Old Testament stories.
The well-dressed Viking had horns on his helmet
A Viking is defined as a Norse, or Scandinavian, explorer, warrior, merchant or pirate. Viking raids and colonisation of wide areas of Europe from the late 8th to the early 11th century forms an important chapter in European history. The Vikings’ famous longships are fact; their famous horned helmets are fiction. The helmets are part of the romanticised picture of Vikings as noble savages which emerged from the 17th century, and especially during the Victorian era.
The traditional image of a viking, which
no real viking would recognise
no real viking would recognise
Before Darwin, everybody believed the world was 6,000 years old
Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species in 1859, but it was well-known before Darwin was born that the earth was ancient. It was also known before Darwin’s book that now-extinct animals had once flourished on the earth. And as early as 1816 Denmark’s Christian Thomsen (1788-1865) divided prehistory into the stone age, bronze age and iron age. Before Darwin, people had already speculated that life forms had evolved through various shapes and types, but they were unable to say how. None of this should devalue the importance of The Origin of Species. Darwin’s theory of natural selection was the first convincing explanation of how evolution takes place.
Play it again Sam
This is the famous line which Humphrey Bogart never said in the 1942 film Casablanca. The dialogue between Sam and Rick actually goes:
Rick: You know what I want to hear.
Sam: No, I don't.
Rick: You played it for her, you can play it for me!
Sam: Well, I don't think I can remember...
Rick: If she can stand it, I can! Play it!
Play it Again, Sam, by the way, is the name of a 1972 play written by Woody Allen and directed by Herbert Ross.
Humphrey Bogart, Dooley Wilson and Sydney Greenstreet
Sirloin got its name after a king knighted a piece of meat
Arise Sir Loin, the king reportedly said. And if you believe that one … The word sirloin is a corruption of the French word sur, meaning above, and loin.
query.nytimes.com, www.localhistories.org, en.wikipedia.org, www.localhistories.org, www.writespirit.net, www.phrases.org.uk
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