# Bullshit history that turned out to be true **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 2, 2021, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullshit-history-that-turned-out-to-be-true/945541 "2021-07-02T21:30:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 22
**Author:** ![Mr.E](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.e/32/8932_2.png) [@Mr.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.E)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2022, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullshit-history-that-turned-out-to-be-true/945541/430 "2022-08-16T19:08:32Z")
Y’all realize I’m not arguing that the earth really is the center of the universe, just that it was a reasonable assumption to make given what ancient people could see of the universe. It was certainly more reasonable than saying the earth is the center of the solar system, which can be proven false by careful observation. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2022, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullshit-history-that-turned-out-to-be-true/945541/431 "2022-08-16T20:15:40Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > Probably a hijack, but: Heh, the flipside of that is that female skin is more provocative until the guy takes off their undies. Showing a penis is pretty much verboten. True, magazines like **Life** used print photos of nude men and boys while being considered a perfectly respectful publication displayed at any newstand, but avoided showing frontal nudity as much as possible. Going back some art schools would have male life models pose in a loincloth or jockstrap instead of fully nude. This is really ironic when you think about how much more acceptable male nudity was in daily life than female nudity. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2022, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullshit-history-that-turned-out-to-be-true/945541/432 "2022-09-08T15:59:53Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I just found it interesting how a woman in scale bikini is “sexualized”, “objectified” and “wildly impractical”, whilst a man in a fur diaper somehow makes perfect sense. The fur diaper makes zero sense, too. I mean, sure, there were European groups that fought naked or nearly so in ancient times but the armor-wearing Romans tended to take over their territories and gain control because bare skin vs. armor isn’t a good strategy. Men can also be sexualized and objectified but due to cultural and historical reasons it’s not the same impact. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2022, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullshit-history-that-turned-out-to-be-true/945541/433 "2022-09-08T17:09:55Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > bare skin vs. armor isn’t a good strategy. [![](https://i.redd.it/odhdrdnxxr171.jpg) ](https://i.redd.it/odhdrdnxxr171.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2022, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullshit-history-that-turned-out-to-be-true/945541/434 "2022-09-08T20:52:22Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > The fur diaper makes zero sense, too. I mean, sure, there were European groups that fought naked or nearly so in ancient times but the armor-wearing Romans tended to take over their territories and gain control because bare skin vs. armor isn’t a good strategy. As noted above, although Conan was in his “fur diaper” on most of the Lancer covers and the Marvel comics, it wasn’t invariably so, and certainly wasn’t back at the beginning. Here’s Gnome Press’ 1954 “Conan the Barbarian” [![](https://www.isfdb.org/wiki/images/3/3a/CNNTHBRBRN551955.jpg) ](https://www.isfdb.org/wiki/images/3/3a/CNNTHBRBRN551955.jpg) The earlier “The Coming of Conan” might have depicted him in a loincloth, but the next few volumes didn’t have him on the cover at all. the 1950 “Conan the Conqueror” has him in armor, too [![](https://www.isfdb.org/wiki/images/6/6a/CNNCNQRR1950.jpg) ](https://www.isfdb.org/wiki/images/6/6a/CNNCNQRR1950.jpg) As does the paperback edition from 1953 [![](https://www.isfdb.org/wiki/images/0/0e/TSORCTC1953.jpg) ](https://www.isfdb.org/wiki/images/0/0e/TSORCTC1953.jpg) 1955’s “Tales of Conan” has him in a tunic [![](https://www.isfdb.org/wiki/images/4/45/TLSFCNN1955.jpg) ](https://www.isfdb.org/wiki/images/4/45/TLSFCNN1955.jpg) It was the Frazetta covers for Lancer that mainly gave us the fur loincloth (even when he’s in the snow, in “Conan of Cimmeria”), but not always. In “Conan the Warrior” he’s in armor again [![](https://www.isfdb.org/wiki/images/c/ca/CNNTHWRRR631967.jpg) ](https://www.isfdb.org/wiki/images/c/ca/CNNTHWRRR631967.jpg) As I’ve noted, Red Sonya dressed reasonably, to at first, as did her inspirations. Barry Windsor-Smith put her in a main shirt (with long sleeves, no less), shorts, and boots. Not a hint of cleavage. The silver dollar bikini came later. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2022, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullshit-history-that-turned-out-to-be-true/945541/435 "2022-09-12T00:25:53Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > The focus of both images is what’s between their legs. Yeah. And in the case of the man it’s a sword, and in the case of the woman it’s her crotch. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2022, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullshit-history-that-turned-out-to-be-true/945541/436 "2022-09-24T12:59:18Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > than the five or six thousand years that Biblical chronology assigns. Which quite co-incidentally, is a good number for how long civilisation has existed. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2022, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullshit-history-that-turned-out-to-be-true/945541/437 "2022-09-24T15:39:37Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > I mean, sure, there were European groups that fought naked or nearly so in ancient times but the armor-wearing Romans tended to take over their territories and gain control because bare skin vs. armor isn’t a good strategy. It’s worth noting, though, that the Conan stories take place some 10,000 years before the rise of the Roman Empire. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2022, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullshit-history-that-turned-out-to-be-true/945541/438 "2022-09-24T16:06:44Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Which quite co-incidentally, is a good number for how long civilisation has existed. It maps a little better to the recording of history. Civilization in the sense of settled groups engaging in agriculture and having laws and hierarchy and whatnot goes millennia earlier, at least in Mesopotamia. Writing was kind of a later development. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2022, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullshit-history-that-turned-out-to-be-true/945541/439 "2022-09-24T16:10:16Z")
You are correct. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2022, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullshit-history-that-turned-out-to-be-true/945541/440 "2022-09-24T20:13:22Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Civilization in the sense of settled groups engaging in agriculture and having laws and hierarchy and whatnot goes millennia earlier, at least in Mesopotamia. And in non-Mesopotamian areas. Jericho, to name a prominent example, goes back about 11,000 years as a settled location. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2022, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullshit-history-that-turned-out-to-be-true/945541/441 "2022-09-24T20:51:10Z")
All that makes a good argument for changing to the Holocene Calendar IMHO. > **[Holocene calendar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocene_calendar)** > > The Holocene calendar, also known as the Holocene Era or Human Era (HE), is a year numbering system that adds exactly 10,000 years to the currently dominant (AD/BC or CE/BCE) numbering scheme, placing its first year near the beginning of the Holocene geological epoch and the Neolithic Revolution, when humans shifted from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to agriculture and fixed settlements. The current year by the Gregorian calendar, AD 2023, is 12023 HE in the Holocene calendar. The HE scheme was fir... > The current year by the Gregorian calendar, AD 2022, is 12022 HE in the Holocene calendar. The HE scheme was first proposed by [Cesare Emiliani](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cesare_Emiliani) in 1993 (11993 HE),[[1]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocene_calendar#cite_note-emiliani-1) though similar proposals to start a new calendar at the same date have been put forward decades earlier.[[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocene_calendar#cite_note-cnca-2)[[3]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocene_calendar#cite_note-hope-3) A more entertaining take by the guys at Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/czgOWmtGVGs/maxresdefault.jpg "A New History for Humanity – The Human Era") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czgOWmtGVGs) ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullshit-history-that-turned-out-to-be-true/945541/442 "2022-09-26T00:54:24Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Which quite co-incidentally, is a good number for how long civilisation has existed. Well, it is off by 5000 years, more or less. To me, it is more distressing for my remaining lapsed Catholicism that there is strong evidence that pre humans and humans controlling fire goes back about 400,000 years, and there is evidence of earlier control up to a million years in the past! > **[The Earliest Example of Hominid Fire](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-earliest-example-of-hominid-fire-171693652/)** > > New research reveals hominids were building fires one million years ago, pushing back the origins of controlled fire by more than half a million years Praise Prometheus! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullshit-history-that-turned-out-to-be-true/945541/443 "2022-09-26T03:23:48Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > > [@carrps](#): > > > > OMG! I read your book on Medusa(s) recently and found it so interesting and actually enjoyable to read. I blush to confess it made me go out and buy a medusa ring on etsy. > > Gee, thanks. It’s always good to get positive feedback. I’m glad you enjoyed **Medusa**. > > You might want to check out some of my other books. I’ve written another book on mythology – **Sons of God** – but I haven’t been able to find a publisher (Oxford turned me down, although they printed my two books on weird optics) …and now I’ve got more books to track down and read… ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullshit-history-that-turned-out-to-be-true/945541/444 "2022-10-19T17:39:18Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > Well, by that logic, the belief that I am personally the center of the universe is validated by the fact I can look around myself in every direction. Incorrect. In reality _ **I** _ am personally the center of the universe. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullshit-history-that-turned-out-to-be-true/945541/445 "2022-10-19T17:47:28Z")
I am the center of the universe, and so is my wife! ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullshit-history-that-turned-out-to-be-true/945541/446 "2022-10-19T17:58:55Z")
My cats, both of whom are the actual center of the universe, will respond when they get around to waking up. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2022, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullshit-history-that-turned-out-to-be-true/945541/447 "2022-10-21T01:22:00Z")
A WWII-era USDA film called “Hemp For Victory”, about legally growing marijuana to make rope, etc. was long rumored to exist, and that rumor turned out to be fact after someone unearthed a copy. > **[Hemp for Victory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemp_for_Victory)** > > Hemp for Victory is a black-and-white United States government film made during World War II and released in 1942, explaining the uses of hemp, encouraging farmers to grow as much as possible. During World War II, the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 was lifted briefly to allow for hemp fiber production to create ropes for the U.S. Navy but after the war hemp reverted to its de facto illegal status. > The film was made to encourage farmers to grow hemp for the war effort because other industrial fibers, ... > **[National Archives NextGen Catalog](https://catalog.archives.gov/id/1682)** > > The online portal to the records held at the National Archives, and information about those records. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullshit-history-that-turned-out-to-be-true/945541.md?page=21)